


Yu-Gi-Oh! Mark of Death

by ThatLoneAvenger379



Series: Yu-Gi-Oh! Mark of Death [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-14 20:39:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 36,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8028178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatLoneAvenger379/pseuds/ThatLoneAvenger379
Summary: An all-original story: Young adult duelist Mike Harper returns to his home of County Dame, hoping to return to a life of normalcy after spending two hellish years out in the desert. But how can he hope to escape his past when it keeps finding its way back to him...? (Current Season: 1. Under Arc-V for use of all cards. Follows obsolete rulings ATM. See A/Ns inside. Be sure to R&R!)





	1. "Return"

**Author's Note:**

> Note that this story originated on the site FanFiction.Net. I have only decided to post it on here both to see if anybody would actually read it, and for backup purposes.  
> That being said, I apologize for lack of interaction with readers in A/Ns; as well as for a lacking in quality, as most of this is copy/pasted from documents and this site does not translate bolds, italics, and underlines very well.  
> Now, without further ado: thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy Yu-Gi-Oh! Mark of Death.

A/N: PLEASE READ

Hello there, and welcome to my all-original story: "Yu-Gi-Oh! Mark of Death"! Now, before you begin reading, there are a few things I wish to inform you of concerning this first chapter, as well as the rest of the story going forward:

\- Chapters 1-10 are completely-revised versions of their original selves as of July 18th, 2016. The title header is a new format as well. These revised chapters were called for due to there being some plot elements and character descriptions and dialogues I wanted to change to keep consistent with the rest of the story moving forward, as well as sheer boredom with my current format. o.o

\- My chapters tend to be LONG. Why, you ask? Well, when you're building up your own original universe and characters, you want to establish as much about everything you can as possible, and that is my aim with every chapter. If you can appreciate this and continue reading anyway, thank you. If not, no hard feelings. If not, but you still read anyway, thank you too. XD

\- There is an entire index for this story on my profile, where you can see how far ahead I'm planned, and any estimated release dates for upcoming chapters. I also have links to customized opening and ending themes, mixed by yours truly.

\- The rules of Duel Monsters in this story strictly follow the basic rules of the actual TCG in the real world. I will not be using OC-based cards in this story at all.

\- The first few duels in this story were written BEFORE the changes to the rules of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in June of 2014. So to avoid needing to go back and modifying the duels to the new rules, the story's duels will be following the obsolete rulings up to a certain point. When the time comes to change those rules, well... you'll see for yourself.

\- I will NOT be accepting OCs into this story to join the main cast. I've been planning this series over the course of the last four years, and to add anything else would just be a throw-off to the rest of the story. Of course, there are a FEW chapters I'm considering putting other OCs into for generic duel purposes. So should such a chapter arise, I will let you know here, in these A/Ns. I only ask that you give those OCs actual real-world decks, and not OC-based cards; they're easier for me to work with.

\- I post A/Ns like this either at the beginning and/or end of every NEW chapter (besides this one). Once a new chapter comes out, the unneeded A/Ns of the last one will be removed from the previous chapter. These A/Ns will serve the purpose of allowing me to say something about the chapter or story that I feel needs addressing, something/someone I want to acknowledge or shout-out to, or to advertise any other works I might have going on.

Alright, that's all I've got to say. Without further ado, I ask that you sit back, relax, and enjoy reading my story: "Yu-Gi-Oh! Mark of Death".

Yu-Gi-Oh! Mark of Death

Arc 1 | Chapter 1: "Return"

Opening Theme: "Raining" by Art Of Dying

Ending Theme: "Behind Blue Eyes" by Limp Bizkit

The city of County Dame found itself bustling with life and energy as the sun began to rise high above it and its inhabitants. Great shadows fell upon one another and upon other buildings thanks to the sun's light up above, giving plenty of shade to help the citizens of the grand-scale city beat the heat as the warm, early May weather became even warmer, signaling that summer was soon approaching.

This was a fact that the students of the city's one and only high school, Dexterity High, knew all too well—they were especially looking forward to getting out of school in the upcoming June. It explained why these teenagers were able to be in such good moods as they stepped off of their buses onto the concrete sidewalk that aligned Dexterity High.

The school stood four stories high near the center of the city, surrounded by potted plants and tiled walkways around the outsides that were to make the school prestigious on the outside just as it was on the inside. The school was known for its dominance as one of the top academic facilities in the country, and the board of directors that ran the school wanted to make sure that its appearance matched its prestige.

But three of this school's students weren't immediately marching into their school just yet like many of the others; instead, they were standing to the left of the main entrance near the corner of the building, knowing they had plenty of time before their first block got started.

"I just don't understand how Mr. Carnell expected us to memorize each and every one of the Presidents in just one night," one of the boys standing among the three complained, speaking of their English teacher as he slid his skateboard back and forth across the tiled ground under his red and black shoes.

His long, black hair was slicked back and tied up in a long ponytail, unable to cover up his dark eyes that had no real discernible color. His chin was scattered with stubbly black hairs that were the survivors of his shaving earlier that morning. He wore a red, hooded blazer with cut-off sleeves over a black t-shirt, and ripped jean-shorts on his legs. He stood at about 5'11", and had just turned eighteen years old in the last few months, just in time for the end of his senior year.

The girl beside him just shook her head at her friend's complaint. "What's wrong with giving up one night to memorize a couple of names, Danny?" she said to him with an inquisitive glance, bemused by her friend's lack of enthusiasm for academic achievement.

Her short, brown hair seemed to only help bring out the color of her emerald-colored eyes behind the black-rimmed glasses she wore. Her choice of clothing was a red collared shirt, along with a long blue skirt that she'd chosen to help beat the hot, May weather. She was younger than them all—only seventeen years old in her junior year, and stood at only 5'8".

"Marina, I get that you're a good student and all," the teen named Danny said as he looked up at to the clear sky uncaringly, "But I'm just saying, if teachers wanted us to succeed in school, they wouldn't have us working our asses off with so much homework every night!"

The shorter girl named Marina retorted: "If you actually tried putting some effort into your schoolwork rather than just complain about it, you'd have some decent grades!"

As the two of them argued back and forth as they usually did on this subject, the third girl between them seemed to shrink away from the conversation. Her long, purple hair reached a fair length down her back, and her bangs were long enough in the front to hide her misty, silver eyes if she wanted to. Under her faded-blue hoodie with rolled-up sleeves, she wore a black t-shirt that just barely passed over the waistline of her grey pants, which reached down to her black and white-checkered, slip-on shoes. Like Danny, she too was eighteen years old, and stood at 5'10".

There was no sign of life in the girl's eyes as her two friends bickered in front of her. The frown that her lips had curled into expressed a sadness that she was trying to hide beneath her bangs as well. However, Danny and Marina took notice their friend's quietude out of the corner of their eyes, and they knew all too well that her current body language was a sign that something was bothering her. They quelled their bickering to turn to her, Marina being the first to ask: "What's wrong, Violet?"

The teen named Violet now looked up to her two friends out of the original three she used to have, her expression one of shock from the fact that the two of them seemed to have forgotten the significance of the day's date. "Do you two not remember what today is...?" she asked them incredulously as she fought back against tears.

Marina quickly picked up on what Violet was implying as her face now became sullen as well. Only Danny remained the oblivious one as he blinked, asking, "Am I the only one out of the loop here?"

He watched a silent tear begin to fall from Violet's face, and she quickly jerked her head away from his sight to have her hair cover her face again. Marina now shot him a look, to which he responded with a confused, innocent shrug.

Marina now grabbed him by his sleeveless blazer and pulled him out of earshot from Violet as another busload of students pulled up in front of the school. The sound of the chattering students stepping off of the bus made it so that Danny could barely hear Marina, but at least Violet wouldn't overhear her reminding him: "It's been two years since the day Mike disappeared, remember?"

Not even a millisecond passed before Danny's eyes widened in shock at how he had completely forgotten. Mike, Danny, Marina, and Violet had all been close friends since middle school, and they had spent a good majority of the last seven years fending off a bully by the name of Josiah and his group of followers. Mike and Danny, being best friends, used to always challenge Josiah and his followers to games of Duel Monsters to get them to leave them alone. But in their group, Mike had always been the only one with enough dueling skill to take Josiah and his lackeys down.

But one day, near the end of Mike, Danny, and Violet's sophomore year, Mike had suddenly disappeared from County Dame without a trace. Since then, there had never been any word from him or about his whereabouts from anywhere, and no one had even the foggiest idea of what might've happened to him. Even the old nun who owned the orphanage where he'd been living prior to his disappearance had no idea where he could've gone, but she could've cared less, too. By the time an entire year had passed since his disappearance, most everybody else in County Dame had given up hope on him and assumed that he'd had to have been dead.

Now, as the students from the last bus entered the school building, Danny and Marina could hear Violet's soft, quiet crying from around the corner where they'd been quarreling earlier; each choking sob tugged at their heartstrings as they remembered all the suffering they'd gone through from their friend's absence.

"Man..." Danny finally managed to say in a low tone as he leaned against the school's marble exterior, his eyes turning thoughtful as he spoke, "I can't believe it's already been two years..."

"Yeah..." Marina muttered back quietly, "I can't even imagine how Violet must be feeling..."

It was a known fact between the two of them that Mike and Violet had always carried heavy affection for each other. In fact, the two of them had known each other long before they'd met Danny and Marina in middle school—back to when they were just infants. Mike's parents, before their untimely death, had been close, personal friends with Violet's widowed father since before the two of them were born, and thus they had always been together no matter what. And though the two of them never realized it themselves, everyone else could easily see how much they really cared for one another.

So when Marina said she couldn't imagine what Violet was feeling, she was absolutely right: neither her nor Danny were feeling that same deep depression that Violet had been thrown into since Mike had vanished, feeling as if a part of herself had vanished as well. Marina could remember a number of times that Violet had tried to move on and stop thinking about him, but it always ended the same way: her heart belonged to Mike, and Mike alone.

"Now what do we have over here?"

Danny and Marina turned sharply to watch as a group of four bulky teenagers exited the school, walking towards them. At the front of the pack was Josiah, the bully that they had been struggling to fend off without the help of their missing friend. He wore a black Dexterity High School blazer over a white muscle shirt, with the words "DEXTERITY HIGH" spread across the back in capitals. He wore light, tight jeans over his black sneakers, and on the left side of his unzipped blazer, the school logo was emblazoned on a neatly woven patch: a knight dressed in full, silver armor. He stood at 6'0", and bore a light-blue and white duel disk on his left arm.

His face bore his usual stupid grin that was his trademark appearance. His sandy-colored hair was cut military-style, and ice-blue eyes that were full of glee. His groupies behind him were dressed just like him, only they all wore purple hats facing backwards. All four of them were on the football team for the school; however their legendary reputation at winning every single game they played did not cover up their records as bullies.

Danny, now used to dealing with Josiah and his lackeys without Mike's assistance, now rolled his eyes at them. "Get lost, Josiah," he shot at him, "We're not in the mood to deal with your crap."

Josiah could only laugh at this, and then disregarded Danny's words as he mockingly said, "Aw, looks like the members of the Wimp Squad are having a bad day! Why—oh, why—could that be?"

He, along with his three followers mimicked that of a person who was thinking about something by cupping their chins with their hand, using their other hand to support the first's elbow.

They stood like this for a moment as Danny glared at them, while Marina seemed to shrink behind him. Before long, Josiah had clapped his hands in fake realization as he cried out loud, "Oh, yeah, that's right! Your 'friend' Mike disappeared on you all two years ago today!"

He and the others behind him now began to laugh as Danny only glared at Josiah coldly, his teeth clenched as Marina seemed to shrink even more. Both of them could now hear Violet from around the corner trying to hold back her tears, but it sounded like they were violently forcing their way out of her.

"Why, I oughta..." Danny began to threaten as he stood up straight again, but Josiah cut him off:

"What, are you gonna duel me again?" he said, now pointing to Danny's bare left arm as he pointed out, "You don't even have your duel disk on you!"

Danny's fists balled. It looked like he just might have to fight after all as Josiah now advanced, cracking his knuckles. Marina could only cower behind him in fear as Josiah advanced on them. They could feel themselves tensing up with every step Josiah took, waiting for the fists to start flying.

"STOP!"

Danny and Marina were ultimately shocked when Violet had suddenly thrown herself out between Josiah and her friends, spreading her arms defensively to stop the bully from proceeding any further.

"Violet!" Danny said with surprise, "What are you—?"

But Josiah cut Danny off again as his eyes widened in surprise as well. "Ah, so the third member of the Wimp Squad is here after all!" he exclaimed with almost fake excitement, "Even better!"

Violet's tear-stained eyes now widened as well, along with her other two friends' eyes as Josiah just took another step forward towards the purple-haired girl.

"I'm gonna enjoy this a lot more than I should..." Josiah uttered as he stepped closer to Violet, reaching out his hand as if to grab her as she shut her eyes with terrified panic.

"Don't touch her."

Josiah's hand stopped abruptly at the sound of the stern, new voice coming from his right. He, Violet, Danny, and Marina, along with the rest of Josiah's gang, now looked to where the voice had come from, down the smooth walkway that led from the school towards the city sidewalk.

But the person who was walking towards them was one unlike any of them had ever seen before: he was a young man who stood at 5'11", wearing a black duster openly over a black shirt. His black jeans were held up by a brown belt with a golden buckle, and his black shoes only completed the rest of his attire.

The young man's shaggy, dirty-blonde hair reached just reached the bottom of his neck. His long bangs were hiding his eyes as he walked towards them.

"Who the hell's this guy...?" Josiah spat disrespectfully, clearly unintimidated by this stranger's dark guise.

Violet, Danny, and Marina, however, were not as oblivious about who this person was as Josiah. But his clothes, the long hair, and the chillingly calm demeanor made them doubt whether or not this was truly who they thought it was...

The stranger finally stopped about ten feet away from them as they looked on at him confusedly. Violet could feel her heart pounding violently in her chest, and her eyes were unable to unglue themselves from the man in black.

"Josiah Sullivan..." the young man spoke calmly as he shifted his head slightly, making his bangs part to reveal his ocean-blue orbs, "You haven't changed a bit."

The eyes finally gave confirmation to Violet, Danny, and Marina that this WAS who they thought it was, and even Josiah seemed to realize who was standing before him as his face paled.

"M-m-Mike...!" he was only able to stammer as he stepped backwards, "I-I thought you were dead...!"

"Dead?" Mike repeated, no feeling or tone detectable in his voice, "Not quite."

Violet couldn't believe what she was seeing, much less hearing. Mike was here—and alive—standing before her eyes; a sight she thought she would never see again in her lifetime.

"W-where have you been all this time?!" Josiah now demanded to know.

"I don't see any reason why I owe you an explanation," Mike said in the same monotonous tone.

Danny was speechless as Marina quivered, only now out of excitement—not fear. Violet, on the other hand, was literally petrified in the moment—unable to decide how to react after finally seeing the boy she'd held affection for after two years of assuming he'd been dead. Now, all she could manage to do was stand there and stare at him.

Finally, Mike turned his head to the eyes of his friends for a moment. "We'll all talk later; I promise," he assured them, but they all remained motionless and speechless in their shock.

Mike now focused his attention back on his old rival. "So, Josiah," he said, "If I remember correctly, your twenty-first birthday was last month. So remind me again which grade it was that you were held back three times in?"

Danny, Marina, and Violet all forced themselves to hold back laughter as Josiah's face turned a deep red. Even his four teammates behind him were resisting the temptation of snickering at this fact.

After regaining the color in his face, Josiah glared at Mike coldly. "What, you think you're all high and mighty now?" he shot at him, "Decked out in your new little emo getup? You think you're BETTER than me?!"

"I don't 'think' anything," Mike replied coolly, "I know that I far outmatch you at this point."

Josiah put on a brave face now, only somewhat convinced that Mike might have something over him. "Alright, I'll bite..." he said with interest as he raised his duel disk arm up, "How 'bout you show me just what you're made of with a duel, right now?"

Mike did not reply, but instead only reached to the inside of his duster, and as fast as lightning he pulled from a holster what looked like a revolver, which made everyone—Josiah, his teammates, Danny, Marina, and Violet—all step backwards in fear at the sight of the apparent firearm.

But what Mike did with this revolver was something none of them were expecting: he held the barrel of the gun to his wrist, where a metal strap protruded and wrapped its way around and attached itself to his arm. The rather wide muzzle suddenly expanded and slid backwards, revealing that it was holding a deck of Duel Monsters cards inside. Emerging from the top side of the barrel was a small piece of metal, which then split itself and expanded to reveal five monster and spell/trap zones.

"A duel with you should be interesting..." Mike mused calmly as he drew five cards from his deck, "So I'll amuse you."

Upon realizing what the revolver-shaped contraption really was, Josiah now stepped forward onto the tiled walkway to face Mike, his duel disk activating upon his left arm while his teammates stood behind him. "Alright!" he cried out, "Then let's get this on!"

He now drew five cards of his own, before they both cried out, "DUEL!"

[Mike – LP: 8000]

[Josiah – LP: 8000]

"Since you only just got back," Josiah said to Mike with false politeness, "I think I'll let you take the first move!"

"Big mistake," Mike returned, "I draw!"

Without as much as a glance or a thought he immediately decided, "I'll start by summoning my Constellar Algiedi in ATK mode!"

[Constellar Algiedi – LV: 4/ATK: 1600]

Danny's eyes widened at the sight of this creature. "Constellar Algeidi...?" he repeated with confusion, "What happened to his old Lightsworn build?"

"I dunno..." Marina admitted as she watched on, "I guess he's changed up his game."

"Yeah..." Violet agreed, "But I wonder if that means he's changed as well..."

Danny and Marina both looked to her with slight surprise. They'd always figured that if Mike ever did return home, Violet would have been over-the-top ecstatic that he was finally back. But the expression that was adorning her face right now was very different to what they had imagined: she looked almost serious, as if his sudden arrival back and partaking in this duel seemed more like a problem to her.

Meanwhile, Mike continued, "Now Algiedi's special ability activates: when it's summoned to the field, I can then special summon another LV 4 Constellar monster directly from my hand. So I summon Constellar Pollux!"

[Constellar Pollux – LV: 4/ATK: 1700]

"Next I'll activate a continuous spell card: Constellar Star Chart!" Mike said, "Which'll come in handy a little later on.

"But for now, I'll overlay my LV 4 Constellar Algiedi and LV 4 Constellar Pollux!" he cried as his two monsters were absorbed into a spatial portal, "With these two monsters, I build the overlay network, and Xyz summon Constellar Praesepe!"

[Constellar Praesepe – RK: 4/ATK: 2400]

Josiah's eyes widened as he was taken aback by the presence of this new monster, while Danny's jaw had dropped like a snake with its jaw unhinged. Marina and Violet were marveling at the sight of this new being, however the latter was only partially-focused on the duel.

In Violet's mind, she couldn't shake the feeling that perhaps her childhood crush had undergone a much more serious transformation than what she and the others were seeing, and it wasn't just because of his new dueling, look, or attitude: the entirety of his vibe made her feel as though she was looking on at a completely different person than the one she remembered. And that idea scared her—the idea that the boy she'd been in love with for so many years was gone, replaced by this darker, colder version of him.

Back in the duel, Josiah managed to recover his game face as he shot at Mike, "So you got yourself some new cards! Is that supposed to scare me or something?"

"Well, maybe not yet," Mike replied, "But until then, I'll activate my Constellar Star Chart's effect, which lets me draw one card whenever I Xyz summon a Constellar monster successfully!"

He drew another card to add to his hand before ending with, "I'll set a card face-down, and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn!" Josiah proclaimed smugly, "I draw!"

He scanned his hand for a moment, looking for a strategy he could use before his lips curled into a sinister smile.

"Like you, I'm also gonna start with a spell card that's gonna help me out later," he snarled," Six Samurai United!"

"Aw, no..." Marina uttered, "Not this early in the duel..."

"Now whenever a Six Samurai monster is summoned to my field, this card gains a Bushido counter!" Josiah explained as he took another card from his hand, "And speaking of summoning, I'll use my Elder of the Six Samurai's effect—special summoning itself to my field when I have no monsters while you do!"

[Elder of the Six Samurai–LV: 3/ATK: 400]

[Six Samurai United – Bushido Counters: 1]

"And it's gonna get worse for you when I summon my Tuner monster: Kagemusha of the Six Samurai!" Josiah continued as an evil gleam flashed in his eyes.

[Kagemusha of the Six Samurai – LV: 2/ATK: 400]

[Six Samurai United – Bushido Counters: 2]

"And with these two monsters out now," Josiah cried as he sent them to his graveyard, "I can tune my LV 2 Kagemusha to my LV 3 Elder, and Synchro summon my Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En!"

[Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En–LV: 5/ATK: 2500]

Now Josiah grinned devilishly as his great warrior took to the field, however he still felt slightly uneasy as he saw Mike continue to stare emotionlessly at the new monster. Everyone else Josiah faced usually panicked at the sight of it, considering its effects; but Mike seemed completely undeterred.

"This... is your idea of an opening move?" Mike asked mockingly, "Tell me this is a joke."

Josiah scowled at him. "You'll eat those words in a minute..." he said as he then sent his Six Samurai United to his graveyard, "I use my Six Samurai United's effect: with two Bushido counters on it, I can send it to my graveyard to draw two more cards!"

He drew his two cards, and smirked at one of the ones he'd drawn: "Now that I control at least one other differently-named Six Samurai on my field," he said, "I can bring out the Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan!"

[Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan – LV: 4/ATK: 1800]

"And now I'll launch my onslaught on your Constellar Praesepe with my Shi En!" Josiah cried as his monster made a lightning-swift dash towards Mike's monster.

Danny and Marina held their breaths as Mike calmly held out his arm towards his Constellar Praesepe, saying, "I use the special ability of my Constellar Praesepe!

"By detaching one overlay unit," he explained, "I can increase the ATK power of a Constellar monster that's attacking or being attacked by 1000 points. And for this battle, I'll be increasing my Praesepe's ATK!"

[Constellar Praesepe – ATK: 3400]

Everyone watched as Josiah's Legendary Six Samurai Synchro got forced back with a punch from Praesepe. Josiah, however, remained calm as he retorted, "With my Shi En's effect, I can destroy my Kizan in its place!"

Kizan rushed forward to defend Shi En as Praesepe thrust its fist again, but its target had changed to Kizan, who groaned before shattering on contact with the fist.

[Josiah – LP: 7100]

Josiah growled as he finished, "Now I'll set two cards face-down, and end my turn."

[Constellar Praesepe – ATK: 2400]

"Back to me, then..." Mike said as he drew his next card, not taking his eyes off of Josiah.

He hadn't even looked at what he'd drawn before immediately beginning with, "I summon my Constellar Leonis!"

[Constellar Leonis – LV: 3/ATK: 1000]

"And thanks to him," he explained as he took another card from his hand, "I can now normal summon another Constellar monster. So welcome to the field, Constellar Kaus!"

[Constellar Kaus – LV: 4/ATK: 1800]

"And now my Kaus had a special ability that can be activated twice per turn," he went on, "He can increase the LV of a Constellar monster by one per usage of the effect. So I'll raise Leonis's LV by 2!"

[Constellar Leonis – LV: 5]

"Next I activate the Star Changer spell card," Mike continued, "Which will increase the LV of my Kaus by 1!"

[Constellar Kaus– LV: 5]

"Oh, I get it..." Josiah silently realized, "He's trying to make two LV 5 monsters so he can Xyz summon again!

"But unfortunately for him..." he thought as he grinned maliciously, "I'm afraid I can't let that happen!"

"I activate the effect of my Shi En!" Josiah now shot at Mike, "Once per turn, a spell or trap card that you activate is immediately negated and destroyed!"

Shi En swiftly dashed towards the spell that had appeared on the field, and slashed through it with his sword before returning quickly to Josiah's side.

[Constellar Kaus– LV: 4]

Mike did not seem fazed in the slightest. Instead, he continued on with his move: "Constellar Praesepe, use your ability to grant yourself 1000 more ATK, and destroy Shi En!"

[Constellar Praesepe – ATK: 3400]

But as Mike's monster charged at Josiah's Shi En, Josiah flipped his trap card: "I activate Mirror Force!" he cried, "Which means you can say goodbye to your little army of monsters!"

Constellar Praesepe hit an invisible barrier between them and Josiah, and after the recoil was shattered along with Constellar Leonis and Constellar Kaus by the force of the trap.

On the sidelines, Danny's, Marina's, and Violet's eyes widened. "What the hell was he thinking...?" Marina tried to figure, "He walked right into Josiah's trap..."

"Don't be so sure of that," Danny countered, gaining both Marina's and Violet's attention, "Mike's duelist instinct had always been top notch. I think there's more to his strategy than this."

But Josiah clearly didn't take this into account, as he couldn't help but laugh at how Mike had sprung his trap so easily. "Man, you've really lost it, haven't you?" he shot at Mike, "You've gotten careless over the last few years!"

"Actually, I haven't lost anything."

Josiah's eyes narrowed at Mike's response as he continued, "See, I didn't attack because I was careless; I attacked because even if you did manage to counteract, it still wouldn't make you any less of a threat to me.

"But last I checked," Mike continued as he flipped his own set card, "Talk is cheap, so I'll now activate my Xyz Reborn trap card! This revives any Xyz monster in my graveyard, and then attaches itself to that monster as an overlay unit! So come on back, Constellar Praesepe!"

[Constellar Praesepe – ATK: 2400]

"Now let's try this again!" Mike decided as he cried, "Praesepe, use your effect and bring your strength up by 1000, and attack Shi En!"

[Constellar Praesepe – ATK: 3400]

Josiah, knowing his other set card was useless to him in this moment, could only cry out as he watched Mike's Praesepe punched its way through Shi En, finally destroying him as it brought down Josiah's LP once again.

[Josiah – LP: 6200]

Danny, Marina, and Violet were bewildered by what they had seen. Josiah was one of the few teenage duelists in County Dame who actually had a good, effective deck, and yet here was Mike—who hadn't lost a single LP all game as of yet—mopping the floor with him with a deck that no one else had ever seen him use before. And from the look of things, it didn't appear that he was ready to lose anytime soon.

"I'll end my turn with one set card," Mike concluded, "Your move, Josiah."

Josiah drew silently, aggravated by how every single move of his had been countered by Mike so far. But when he saw what he'd drawn, he realized that he was ready to turn the tables in his favor again.

"I'll start with my trap card, Double-Edged Sword Technique!" he cried as his other set card now flipped, "And with it, I revive two Six Samurai monsters in my graveyard! So now my Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En and my Elder of the Six Samurai come back!"

[Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En – LV: 5/ATK: 2500]

[Elder of the Six Samurai – LV: 3/ATK: 400]

"And now I'll summon Junk Synchron!" Josiah continued with a sly smile, "And its effect brings back my Kagemusha!"

[Junk Synchron – LV: 3/ATK: 1300]

[Kagemusha of the Six Samurai – LV: 2/ATK: 400]

Mike's eyebrows knit. Though it was entirely out of place for a Six Samurai deck, Junk Synchron was actually really effective with Josiah's Synchro strategy. Reviving his Kagemusha and swarming with at least two other monsters made for two easy Synchro summons in one turn.

"Now I'll tune my Kagemusha to my Elder!" Josiah cried, "And in doing so, I Synchro summon my X-Saber Wayne!"

[X-Saber Wayne – LV: 5/ATK: 2100]

"And with its summoning, I can now bring forth The Six Samurai – Zanji from my hand!" Josiah continued.

[The Six Samurai – Zanji – LV: 4/ATK: 1800]

"And next I'm tuning my Junk Synchron to my Shi En!" Josiah exclaimed proudly, "Now rise, my Crimson Blader!"

[Crimson Blader – LV: 8/ATK: 2800]

Danny, Marina, and Violet's eyes all went wide at this move. Josiah only used Crimson Blader when he was looking to lock down his opponent permanently to avoid dealing with them any more than he had to. Now it was evident to everyone that he had found Mike's skill level a threat.

Josiah eyed Mike's set card just once before deciding to take a chance, declaring, "Now, my Crimson Blader will strike down your Constellar Praesepe!"

Crimson Blader took up his two swords and dashed at Praesepe, and slashed through it easily, finally bringing Mike's LP down a bit.

[Mike – LP: 7600]

"And the best part is..." Josiah cried out gleefully, "Now you're forbidden from summoning LV 5 or higher monsters in your next turn!"

"Big deal," Mike retorted as he indicated the trap he'd activated moments before, "Your Blader is going away right now thanks to my Constellar Meteor!

"This trap card sends any monster that battled a Constellar monster and survived back to the deck!" Mike explained as Josiah's eyes widened, "But since your Crimson Blader is a Synchro monster, it's returning to your extra deck instead!"

Crimson Blader disappeared from Josiah's field, while the latter balled his free hand into a fist. "Zanji and Wayne," he cried out angrily, "Attack Mike directly!"

His two named monsters went to work: Wayne's pistol bullet shot right through Mike's chest, while Zanji's spear struck down from Mike's head to toe.

[Mike – LP: 5500]

[Mike – LP: 3700]

Gasps came from Danny, Marina, and Violet while the bunch behind Josiah cheered for their leader's great volley of attacks. Josiah himself was snickering out of his own pride.

"Looks like you can't hold a candle to me after all!" he called to Mike.

But Mike had not moved a muscle the entire time the turn had been played out; not even when his monster had been destroyed, or when his LP had taken so much damage.

"It's like he had ice in his blood..." Marina murmured, "Kinda creepy..."

"Yeah..." Danny agreed, "I've never seen him this calm after losing so many LP before."

"Me neither..." Violet realized silently, "He really DOES feel like a completely different person..."

Meanwhile, Josiah had taken notice of Mike's lack of reaction as well. "What, you're gonna keep a poker face all day?" he taunted, "I strike your LP down, and all you can do is stand there?"

"Shut up, already," Mike countered coldly, "I'm sick of listening to you run your mouth."

Josiah's eyes lit up with fury at the insult as Mike continued, "I'm here to duel, not listen to you monologue. So make a move."

Josiah's eyes flared before he finished, "Well, I've got nothing else to do, so I end my turn!"

"About time," Mike said as he drew once more.

No one could speak at this point. The sight of the two duelists now squaring off face-to-face was about the most exhilarating thing that the trio of friends or Josiah's team had ever witnessed in a long time. Not once had a duel with this much intensity ever been known to happen in County Dame before, and the fact that it was occurring here and now before their eyes was almost an honor to them.

"I play my Pot of Avarice!" Mike began, "Now all five of the Constellar monsters that are in my graveyard return to my deck! And then, once it's shuffled, I get to draw two cards!"

As he carried out the effect, Josiah wondered if Mike would actually be able to turn things around in his favor.

Mike finally drew his two cards, and then continued his move with, "I then summon my Constellar Pollux back to the field!"

[Constellar Pollux – LV: 4/ATK: 1700]

"And thanks to him, I can call out another Constellar monster as a normal summon!" Mike cried, "And I'm calling forth my Constellar Algiedi!"

[Constellar Algiedi – LV: 4/ATK: 1600]

"Now I'll overlay these two monsters!" Mike cried as a special portal opened once again, "And by building this overlay network, I Xyz summon my Starliege Paladynamo!"

[Starliege Paladynamo – RK: 4/ATK: 2000]

Danny, Marina, Violet, and even Josiah were now facing their biggest shocker yet. This had been the one card out of Mike's former Lightsworn build that they had seen so far. It had always been his ace monster back in the day, and apparently that hadn't changed.

Now Danny was smiling broadly as he cried out, "Aw, yeah! Josiah's got no chance against Mike now!"

Violet's jaw still hung slightly agape. This was the first time since Mike had gotten back that she finally saw the Mike that she'd known and grown up with. Here was his oldest ace monster, finally back on his field.

"Maybe he hasn't changed as much as I thought..." she realized as a small smile spread across her lips, as she felt some of her love for him return.

"Next I'll use my Starliege Paladynamo's effect," Mike continued as Josiah began to panic in his mind, "By detaching both of his overlay units, not only can I wipe out all of its ATK, but all of its special abilities as well!"

[X-Saber Wayne – ATK: 0]

"Now attack X-Saber Wayne, Paladynamo!" Mike declared as he pointed to Josiah's monster.

Without a moment's hesitation, Starliege Paladynamo took its space-like blade and slashed Wayne down to size in one swipe, while the shockwaves from the attack forced Josiah to flinch as his LP declined once again.

[Josiah – LP: 4200]

Now Josiah was beyond infuriated. Mike had brought out his oldest monster and completely struck him down with it, just like he'd done on so many other occasions. He wasn't ready to let the duel end like that again.

"And that ends my turn," Mike finished up, and Josiah drew his next card silently as he fumed with anger.

"I'll summon my Six Samurai – Irou!" he cried out.

[The Six Samurai - Irou – LV: 4/ATK: 1700]

"And now I'll show you a new monster that's gonna take out your Paladynamo!" Josiah exclaimed, "I overlay my Zanji and my Irou!"

Everyone watching the duel now watched with interest as another portal opened once again, this time on Josiah's side of the field as Josiah cried out, "I Xyz summon my Blade Armor Ninja!"

[Blade Armor Ninja – RK: 4/ATK: 2200]

"Oh, no!" Marina put her hands to her mouth as she gasped.

"Not good..." Danny murmured as he eyed the Xyz warrior loathingly, "I can't remember how many times he's used that thing on me. I don't like where this is going..."

"Now I'll force your hand!" Josiah cried out in rage, fired up beyond a point anyone gathered had ever seen for a long time, "I'll detach an overlay unit in order to enable my Ninja's effect: now he can attack twice this battle phase!"

Violet, Danny, and Marina watched in horror as Josiah now declared, "Now Blade Armor Ninja, strike his Paladynamo down!"

The Ninja seemed to vanish, before suddenly reappearing before Paladynamo in the blink of an eye. He drew his swords, and struck through Starliege Paladynamo, destroying him.

[Mike – LP: 3500]

"It gets worse for you, I'm afraid," Josiah sneered gleefully, "My Blade Armor Ninja's special ability lets him attack again now!"

The Ninja vanished once more, reappearing this time directly in front of Mike He pulled his two swords out and slashed at him in an X-shape with the two blades, causing him to stumble backwards as his LP declined.

[Mike – LP: 1300]

"Mike!" Violet finally cried out to him.

Mike only turned his head slightly towards Violet as he regained his footing, and gave her only a stern nod to signal to her that he was okay before focusing back on the duel as he stood up straight again.

"About time you pulled out your ace; I'm finally starting to enjoy this duel..." he complimented his old adversary, "But if that's all you're able to do this turn, then I'm afraid you just ran fresh out of luck.

"Starliege Paladynamo's effect now activates," Mike reminded them all, "Since he was destroyed by my opponent, I'm allowed to draw a card!"

Mike drew as Blade Armor Ninja returned to Josiah's field again as he crossed his arms smugly. "Well, my turn's over," he wrapped up, "So let's see how you intend to get passed my Ninja!"

"You asked for it," Mike warned him, "I draw!"

The moment he saw the card he'd drawn, he smiled—the first real, genuine smile that anyone had seen from him since he'd returned.

"Since I have no monsters while you do," Mike started, "I can special summon Constellar Siat from my hand!"

[Constellar Siat – LV: 1/ATK: 100]

Josiah couldn't help but slightly chuckle at the sight of the tiny monster. "And just what is that puny little runt gonna do for you?" he demanded to know.

"All the good in the world!" was Mike's reply as he explained, "You see, this little guy can copy the LV of any Constellar monster in my graveyard! So I'll have him take the LV of my Constellar Pollux!"

[Constellar Siat – LV 4]

"And now I'll bring my Constellar Kaus back to the field!" Mike went on.

[Constellar Kaus – LV: 4/ATK: 1800]

"And in case you don't remember his special effect," Mike explained, "Twice per turn, he can increase the LVs of any one Constellar monster by 1. So for this turn, I'll have him raise both his LV and Siat's LV to 5!"

[Constellar Siat – LV: 5]

[Constellar Kaus – LV: 5]

"Now I'll build the overlay network one more time," Mike cried as the special portal opened once more, "To Xyz summon my Constellar Pleiades!"

[Constellar Pleiades – RK: 5/ATK: 2500]

"And now my Constellar Star Chart lets me draw one more card!" Mike continued, a sudden shift in his tone now apparent: self-assurance.

Mike now drew what was to be his last card this entire duel, while Violet, Danny, Marina, and the entirety of Josiah's team all held their breaths, waiting to see Mike's final card.

But the moment he looked to see what he'd drawn, he knew his victory had been assured.

"I activate my Pleiades's effect!" Mike cried, "By detaching one overlay unit, he can return your Blade Armor Ninja to your extra deck!"

"He can what?!" Josiah cried out as his sword-wielding Ninja now vanished from his field.

"Now I equip the Megamorph equip spell to my Pleiades," Mike now played his final card, "Which means that, so long as my LP are lower than yours, his ATK strength is doubled!"

[Constellar Pleiades – ATK: 5000]

Josiah now lost all color in his face as Mike made his final declaration, "Now Constellar Pleiades, attack Josiah directly and end this duel!"

Constellar Pleiades took up his large sword and charged Josiah, who cried out as Mike's creature sliced right through him to finish him off.

[Josiah – LP: 0]

The moment slowly sank into the spectators of the duel as they watched the two duelists' duel disks deactivate, while Josiah sank to his knees in defeat as the jocks behind him all circled around him.

"Yo, Josiah!" Mike, Violet, Danny, and Marina heard them cry our, "Are you alright, man—?"

"Get AWAY from me!" Josiah shouted vehemently, cutting them off as he grasped at his head before glaring at Mike, who only watched him with a cold, merciless expression.

Without a word, Josiah stood and started running down the tiled walkway, past Mike, onto the sidewalk and into the city while the rest of his team watched and cried after him to come back.

On the sidewalk next to Mike, Danny finally gave a low whistle. "Man, I don't know where you've been all this time..." he finally said to his old friend, "But you gotta tell me where you learned to duel like that! That was awesome!"

Mike's eyes flickered towards his friends for a moment; however he didn't speak another word. Instead, he just turned and started walking away in the direction that Josiah had just ran in, back towards the city sidewalk as the three friends' eyes widened in confusion.

"Hey, wait!" Danny called after him, "Where ya goin'?!"

"Is he seriously just leaving...?" Marina wondered aloud.

But Violet couldn't let that happen. "Mike, wait!" she cried out, running after him and catching him by his arm.

He stopped and stood there, not glancing behind himself to look at Violet. He could feel her hand trembling as it gripped him, and he couldn't blame her: he had just come back, and now was leaving again. She didn't want to let him go again.

"Violet," he said softly but sternly as he pulled away from her, "Bring the others to the usual spot after school. I'll meet you there."

And without another word, he continued walking away, leaving Violet to then notice the most disturbing detail she'd found about him so far: the fact that the back of his duster was tattered in bullet holes.

"Mike..." Violet wondered with horror as her hand was brought to her mouth, "What's happened to you...?"

\- FLASHBACK -

The desert winds howled as sand whirled in the air, making it difficult for the young man to see as he dredged through the desert, fighting back against the wind as best he could. He was dressed in a black, long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up, along with faded jeans held up by a brown belt with a deck case attached to it behind him. His black sneakers felt as if they were burning his feet, as they attracted the heat both from the sun and the sand beneath him.

The young man's dirty-blonde hair was cut fairly short, but still had some body to it. His eyes were colored ocean-blue, but had never looked as tired as they did in that moment. His body was exhausted, and his throat was parched and dry. Every step he took felt like another day to his weary mind.

Mike had been walking like this for the last three days since he'd woken in his bed at the orphanage that morning. He had no idea why, but the X-shaped scar on his arm that he'd had since his childhood had awoken him one morning with a sharp, stinging sensation that seemed to draw him towards the direction he'd started walking in, and he couldn't find it in himself to resist its will.

Mike was now beginning to feel its sting again, only more intensely than ever before. He hadn't felt it since he'd started walking in the direction that seemed to make the cut stop stinging as much, and he wondered if he'd somehow wandered off the path that it wanted him to go in.

But soon enough, Mike was finally made out a distinct figure in the distance that he realized must have been who he was being drawn to: a man standing in the sandy wind, looking as though he were awaiting Mike's arrival. He pushed himself harder to try and reach the man faster; aching for the pain in his arm to cease, but it was only making the cut sting more and more brutally.

Finally, he reached the point where he could see the mysterious man clearly: he had wispy, jet-black hair with only a few streaks of silver here and there, and a van dyke beard of the same color scheme. His eyes were a deep shade of gray—dark as the most electrifying storm. He was wearing a long, black duster, beneath which was a black shirt, belt, pants, and even what appeared to be a gun holster. He was only slightly taller than Mike, standing at about 6'0".

He would've wondered if he was making a mistake in approaching the man, but his mind and body had reached their limits as the stinging feeling from his X-shaped scar suddenly soared to a new height, making his entire body feel like it was on fire. It was only another moment before he felt himself go completely numb, sinking to his knees as he doubled over, his head hitting the sand before he fell out of consciousness.

\- FLASHBACK END -

Next Time

Arc 1 | Chapter 2: "Details"

A/N: PLEASE READ

And that's the first chapter! I wanna thank you all again for checking out my story and reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it!

Going forward: if you want to read more "Mark of Death," make sure to "Follow" the story! And if you really liked it, give it a "Favorite"! And more than anything else, be sure to leave reviews and let me know your thoughts! I love getting to hear feedback from readers; it's the best way to improve, y'know? Plus it makes the fact that I've put 4+ years' worth of my free time into this story feel a little more worthwhile. ^^ Also, if there are any major writing or duel errors in my work, don't be afraid to let me know via review or PM, and I'll get straight to work on fixing them.

Thanks again for reading, and stay awesome, everyone.


	2. "Details"

Yu-Gi-Oh! Mark of Death

Arc 1 | Chapter 2: "Details"

Opening Theme: "Raining" by Art Of Dying

Ending Theme: "Behind Blue Eyes" by Limp Bizkit

The rest of the day proceeded as usual for Danny, Marina, and Violet, except it was much less tense around the school. All of the students at Dexterity High suddenly felt safe in the hallways without Josiah around; as though a huge weight had been lifted off of everyone's shoulders. Of course, the jocks that made up the rest of the football team couldn't help but talk about how their captain had suffered defeat at the hands of Mike—a story which spread throughout the rest of the school populace like wildfire. Even the teachers and other staff picked up on his return, and it wasn't long before entire school was talking about him.

Danny was especially enthused as he and Violet entered their last class of the day, History, after parting ways with Marina, who had to go to her junior Health class. The two senior friends made sure that they sat next to each other in the back of the classroom, as to make undetectable conversation without being caught by their teacher, Mr. Carnell.

"This has been the best day ever!" Danny whispered with enthusiasm to Violet as they sat themselves down at their long desk, "Ms. Avers extended the deadline to our history paper; the vending machine in the cafeteria now has barbecue chips; and to top it off, my best friend's finally back while Josiah hasn't been around all day!"

"Heh..." Violet could only chuckle back weakly, only half-focused on what Danny was saying.

She couldn't stop thinking about Mike: how he had just come out of nowhere after disappearing for two years, defeated Josiah, and then walked away again. To her, it felt like that whole scene had fled by so fast, as though it had all been some kind of dream.

And then there were the apparent bullet holes she'd seen in the back of his duster. She couldn't even begin to fathom what kind of things Mike might have been through if those holes really were put there by actual bullets. And what was worse, the revolver-shape of his new duel disk that he'd used earlier didn't help to settle her mind any better...

"Violet... Violet!"

Danny's whispering voice finally found its way to her head, and she snapped out of her thoughts with a jolt as she looked to her friend, shaking her head. "I'm sorry..." she said with an apologetic look, "I just..."

She couldn't finish what she was saying, but Danny nodded to confirm he knew what she meant. "No, I get it..." he tried to comfort her as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sure this is probably affecting you more than anyone else."

Violet scoffed. "You haven't been in love with him since you were a kid," she said in retort, a tone of mild annoyance detectable in her voice.

That prompted Danny to shut up as he took his arm from her shoulder, leaving Violet to go back to her thoughts. Despite the mysteries of just what had happened to Mike while he'd been gone over the last two years, there was still one thing on her mind that particularly bothered her that she just couldn't figure out: what had driven him to leave for the last two years in the first place.

"Is it possible that he left because of the accident that happened all those years ago...?" she wondered to herself, a grim expression now coming to her face as the memory flashed in her mind.

Just before she could begin to think more about that horrendous day, Mr. Carnell called her name as he did attendance: "Miss Alyssum... Miss Alyssum?"

Danny gave her a nudge to bring her back to her senses, and the sudden jolt by reality startled her as she finally replied with a stammer, "Oh, uh; here!"

She looked up at her English teacher as she spoke. As always, he was wearing a casual sports jacket over his white dress shirt, along with pants that no one could tell if they were jeans, dress pants, or some kind of really odd crossover of the two. He stood at 6'2", and his black hair was only slightly messy as usual.

"About time," Mr. Carnell said sternly to her, "You need to get your head out of the clouds, Miss Alyssum."

He gave Violet a look that she had a feeling meant extra homework tonight, and she hung her head as Mr. Carnell continued his attendance check.

The elevator door to the school's usually empty fourth floor gave a loud ding, signaling that someone had just arrived on that floor's landing. The two doors separated from each other to let the dirty-blonde-haired man in the black duster step into the hallway.

Mike glanced down the stretches of space in the unoccupied hallways: nothing but walls with decorated by canvases and portraits that contained pictures, paintings, and other works of art that past students of Dexterity High had created. The artworks were spread between different office doors, all of which belonged to administrative staff members of the school that no students were allowed to enter without permission.

But the door he was looking for was at the very end of the hall to the far left: the wooden door with the same green doorframe that he remembered, with a gold-rimmed sign on the door that read in bold capitals: "DR. SKELDON CRAWFORD: PRINCIPAL."

He made his way towards the door, stopping before it as he rapped his knuckles on it three times.

"Who is it?" came a voice from inside that Mike immediately recognized.

"Take a guess," Mike replied, hoping that the man behind the door would recognize his voice.

There was silence behind the wooden door as Mike stood patiently waiting, before the voice within finally spoke again: "Come in."

Mike turned the knob and walked inside. The first thing he noticed was how different the office looked compared to the last time he'd been in it two years ago: new filing cabinets occupied the wall to the right of the door he had walked in through, replacing the rusted ones he remembered.

Dr. Crawford's desk was made of solid marble, held up by smaller, metal filing cabinets that must have held personal items or folders. Upon the desk was a large-screen computer that had multiple windows opened on it. A wireless mouse and keyboard lay between their owner seated at the desk and the screen.

Bright sunlight shone through two windows in the room: one from the side of Dr. Crawford's desk, and one directly behind him that had a shelf beneath it holding magnolias in a large flower pot. The flowers were definitely being taken care of well, as they stood tall and proud, full of life. A small watering can sat beside them.

Dr. Crawford sat behind the marble desk in what looked like a half office chair, half Lay-Z-Boy. He was dressed in his usual white, collared, short-sleeved shirt, over which he was wearing a blue sport coat. His legs donned dark jeans, and his feet wore black, slip-on shoes. His handsome face looked bored as he looked down at the papers he was reading. His short, bright-blonde hair was kept neatly parted in the front, and his hazel eyes seemed to be reflected bigger than they actually were behind his plastic-rimmed glasses. At full height, he would've stood at 6'2".

He finally looked up as Mike closed the door behind him, and his eyes widened slightly in surprise. "I thought you had taken off earlier this morning after that duel, Mr. Harper," he said curiously.

Mike's eyes narrowed as he eyed Dr. Crawford cautiously, almost as if he was on alert to be attacked by him at any minute. "How do you know about that?" he questioned his old principal.

Dr. Crawford laughed heartily as he looked back to his papers. "The stereotype of a football jock is not as far off as others take it to be," he explained, "The rest of the football team practically made an announcement out of how you defeated their captain this morning."

Mike did not respond, but instead just continued to look down at Dr. Crawford as he continued to flip through his papers. Feeling his eyes on him, Dr. Crawford finally put down the papers he had been going over, and looked up to face Mike again as he leaned back in his chair. "I suppose this isn't a casual visit after being gone for so long," he guessed, "You want to talk about something?"

"Just some business," Mike replied simply, his tone indicating that he wasn't in the mood to deal with anything else.

Dr. Crawford was quiet for a moment before deciding to change the topic for the moment: "Want to tell me where you've been for the last two years?" he inquired.

Mike averted his eyes from Dr. Crawford's gaze at that remark. "I don't have time for this, Dr. Crawford," he said with irritation, "Don't change the subject—"

"I will speak business with you once I get the story," Dr. Crawford compromised, not wanting to let information he'd been wondering about for the last two years slip out of his hands.

Mike scoffed. "What exactly do you want to know?" he asked.

"How about we start with why you disappeared in the first place?" Dr. Crawford suggested, wanting to ease into the conversation.

"You ought to know the answer to that," Mike shot back, "After all, you're the one who got me through that hell all those years ago."

Dr. Crawford nodded as he recalled to almost twelve years prior: before becoming principal of Dexterity High School, he had been a guidance counselor and therapist by trade. Mike, at the age of six, had been one of his patients after what they both referred to as the "accident" that had taken the lives of both his parents.

Soon afterwards, he became Principal of Dexterity High with help from the fact that he was very understanding and caring for younger people, and would most likely be able to help students through the teenage drama that he'd helped others deal with for many years.

Now, Dr. Crawford rubbed his temples as the memories of what he and Mike used to discuss returned to his mind. "I suppose you still carry all the blame, then?" he asked, though he already knew the answer to that question.

Mike averted his eyes again, his gaze shifting to the floor. He could not—or rather, would not—speak of the "accident" that had changed the course of his life; that had put him into an orphanage that had to become his home for the next ten years.

Dr. Crawford pressed on, not wanting to stay on the subject for too long: "So were you trying to find redemption?"

Mike only nodded in response, though the look on his face now told Dr. Crawford that he was only half-right, but at least he was onto something.

Dr. Crawford now sighed as he pushed aside the papers on his desk, not wanting to be distracted. "You didn't find it, did you?" he reasoned, "Your search for redemption only turned you into a glutton for punishment."

Dr. Crawford knew that that was a harsh way to put it, but his philosophy was that it only helped to keep to the reality of the way things were. If the one he was trying to help couldn't handle things as they were, they had to find a way to do so.

"I've seen a lot of terrible things, Dr. Crawford," Mike finally said gravely as he continued avoiding eye contact, "I've done a lot of terrible things... these were two years... where nothing good happened."

"What kind of things?" Dr. Crawford asked.

But Mike couldn't bring himself to speak of the kinds of events he'd been involved in over the last two years. He only took the revolver-shaped duel disk from its holster at his side and placed it on Dr. Crawford's desk.

"This is more than just a duel disk, Crawford," Mike explained as his eyes—now filled with a death-like intensity—locked with his old therapist's.

Dr. Crawford looked from Mike to the device he had just put on his desk. And as he stared long and hard at it, he realized what Mike had meant: it didn't just look like a gun for design. It could, and had, taken lives.

"So..." Dr. Crawford said, sounding slightly shaken as he looked back into Mike's eyes, "Were you trying to... eliminate what you thought was the 'scum of the earth' as your redemption?"

"Something like that..." was Mike's only reply as he took the gun from the marble desk, replacing it in its holster at his side, "But it wasn't anything of the sort in the end. Only murder."

Dr. Crawford eyed the gun in Mike's holster, and then tore his eyes away from it as he breathed a heavy sigh, getting up from his seat and turning to the shelf inhabited by magnolias.

"Murder..." he repeated the word as he tended to his flowers, sprinkling them with water as he spoke, "A damnable offense, to be certain; despite how righteous its intentions might have been. But we cannot help but sometimes misplace our faith..."

As he set the watering can down and sat himself in his chair again, he assured him, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about what you've done. As a matter of fact, I'm more interested in the fact that, despite everything you've endured, you came back to face everyone."

"Well, I just want to make things right with myself," Mike explained, "And I wouldn't have been able to where I was."

Dr. Crawford could see the honesty in his old patient's eyes, as well as the regret for what he'd done, and the hatred for himself for having done so. He'd seen this look in Mike's eyes only once before: when the two had first met, after the "accident" that had taken the lives of Mike's parents had caused him to only look at himself in resentment. Now, that resentment burned more brightly in his sea-blue orbs than he'd ever seen before.

He sighed once more, leaning back in his chair. "If I might ask you," he asked with a raised eyebrow, "What exactly drove you to suddenly seek out redemption in such a manner?"

"I'd rather not disclose that information," Mike said sternly as his right hand made its way to grab the top part of his lower left arm, "In fact, I'd actually like to get down to the business I mentioned earlier."

"Very well," Dr. Crawford decided to go with what Mike wanted to talk about, realizing that he wasn't getting any more information out of him, "What sort of business do you wish to discuss?"

"My education," Mike replied as he finally sat himself down in one of the guest chairs across from Dr. Crawford, whose eyes widened in surprise at Mike's answer.

"Your education?" he repeated, making sure that he was hearing Mike right. While Mike had always been an average student back in the day, it was no secret that he'd never really cared too much about his schooling.

"That's right," Mike confirmed as he got comfortable in his chair, "I want to get it finished as soon as possible. The only thing I really learned over the last two years was a little self-defense, but that's hardly a necessary requirement where real-world jobs are concerned, I imagine."

"Indeed..." Dr. Crawford agreed, "But we're already near the end of our school year here. To continue your education from where you left off now, you wouldn't be able to graduate for another two years."

"Which is why I was hoping you might be able to set up some kind of private courses for me instead," Mike proposed, "And let me take the bare minimum of classes I'd need to so I can graduate sooner rather than later.

"And that aside," Mike added in, "You'd understand if I told you I don't exactly feel comfortable being around my former peers anymore, right?"

Dr. Crawford took a moment to contemplate Mike's request. Mike stared into his eyes to let him know that he was completely serious about his absurd-sounding proposition—it wasn't so much something he wanted, but something he needed.

"Alright," Dr. Crawford finally spoke, "If that is what you wish, I might be able to set you up with some nightly courses. I cannot guarantee when they might start, however."

Mike grinned slightly at his plan's success as he stood from the chair. "Thank you, Dr. Crawford," he said gratefully as he reached into his duster, pulling out a small piece of paper from it that he tossed onto his former therapist's desk.

"That's my number," Mike explained as Dr. Crawford picked up the piece of paper to examine it, "For if you need to contact me."

He now turned towards the door as he said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be later."

Dr. Crawford grinned as he looked from the paper to Mike. "Off to go hang out with those old friends of yours?" he guessed, "Mr. Stark, Miss Livesey, and Miss Alyssum?"

Mike froze as he laid his hand on the door handle when he heard those names. "How've they been?" he asked, a mixture of concern and curiosity in his voice.

"It's been rough for them since you left when it came to dealing with Mr. Sullivan," Dr. Crawford admitted, "But they've lasted this long. And I know they've missed you; more than you probably care to believe."

Mike gave a small chuckle, but then went quiet again before he spoke with a tone that was seldom heard in Mike's voice: compassion.

"And what about Violet?" he asked specifically, "How's she been?"

It was Dr. Crawford's turn to chuckle. "She was probably the most affected by your disappearance," he replied, "In fact, it might interest you to know that she has your name written on most of her school folders."

Mike smiled slightly at that thought. "Thanks again, Dr. Crawford," he said again, before walking out of the office and closing the door behind him.

As he made his way back to the elevator, his footsteps seemed to become quieter as he withdrew into his mind, lingering on the memories that Dr. Crawford's questioning had brought up inside of him—the "accident," the events of the last two years, and all of the pain and grief that both of those sets of memories brought him.

As he rode back down the elevator again minutes later, the last question Dr. Crawford had asked Mike concerning his time out west still lingered in his mind. He shot a glare at the small spot on his arm that he had grasped earlier. It was almost funny to him now—how such a small thing had thrust him into a life he never would've thought of living in his wildest dreams...

\- FLASHBACK -

When Mike awoke, he honestly thought that he had died.

All he could remember was the exhaustion, thirst, and agony that had overtaken his body before he'd finally collapsed, and he could've sworn that it was going to be the end for him. But now, as he opened his eyes and his vision became clearer, he realized his thirst had been quenched, and he felt energized for the first time in what felt like forever.

He sat himself up and scanned his environment: he appeared to be in a battered, wooden shack of some kind. He was lying on an undecorated cot, which was next to a small table with a bottle of water and a plate with a sliced up bread loaf on it. Nearby was a larger wooden table with three chairs tucked underneath three of its sides, atop of which was a candle and a matchbox. There was a small pile of pens and pencils next to that, and the rest of the table was adorned with a large map that took up most of the rest of the space.

As he tried to put his finger on a way to describe how he felt about the place, the door into the room directly across from his cot suddenly swung open, and in walked the same scraggly, black-haired man he'd seen before collapsing.

"So you're alive after all," the man said with an odd accent that Mike couldn't recognize, "Good. My treating you wasn't for nothing after all."

Mike now shifted himself so he was sitting facing the man, still trying to fully focus his eyes. He couldn't help but sound only mildly scared as he asked, "Where am I...?"

The older man's smile only broadened as he turned his back, saying as he did so: "Come. I'll show you."

Mike's eyebrows rose as the man moved back into the other room beyond the door. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to follow the stranger or not. But considering that this man had to have been the one who'd saved his life, he couldn't see any reason not to trust him for the time being.

So with his mind made up, he stood from the small cot and walked towards the door to follow the man. But the moment he opened the door and stepped outside, his heart nearly stopped out of shock at the sight of his new environment:

He'd walked out onto a wooden deck in the center of a small, western-style town that he'd only ever seen the likes of in movies: a wide, sandy road was the pathway between the buildings that made up the town before him. The people walking around were all dressed in clothes appropriate for the setting and weather: men wore variants of outfits consisting of button-up shirts, frilled vests, chaps, boots, and different styles of cowboy hats; some women were dressed up in similar outfits of the like, but others were also gussied up in prairie dresses. There were few others who were also dressed up in more modernized garb, such as designer shirts, jeans, sneakers, and various jackets.

The ambient echo of neighing horses intermingled with the sound of the citizens' chattering voices as Mike stared out at them, while the older man whom he'd followed outside moved to stand beside him as he said, "Welcome to Frontier Haven."

Mike just stood there in silence for a moment as he took the new scenery in. The only thing he could think of to do was blink, figuring that when he reopened his eyes, he'd find that was just hallucinating—that County Dame had just decided to suddenly look like an old Hollywood movie set for a best-selling western thriller, and he'd really just woken up in his bed again at the orphanage. But he found this wasn't the case when he opened his eyes again: he was really standing in the center of an old western town.

"From your silence, I imagine that you're in shock," the scraggly-haired man took notice, his gaze focused on the town before them.

Mike now turned his attention to the man. "What is this place...?" he tried to sound more confident than he felt as he questioned the scraggly-haired man.

The older man now walked past Mike, moving to the other side of the wooden deck they were standing upon, looking out to another part of the town before finally replying: "A place of purgatory."

Mike's gaze had followed the man as he walked, but when he heard this he raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Purgatory...?" he repeated, trying to register what he was hearing.

"Yes," the aged man confirmed as he continued gazing out into Frontier Haven, "A place where the evil of the world comes to die."

Mike suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable as he now stepped a few paces away from the man. Was he supposed to be the "evil of the world" that had to die? He couldn't understand why, as he'd never done anything awful or even remotely malicious in his life, save for the "accident" that he blamed himself for what had happened so many years ago...

"Who are you...?" Mike now questioned, not wanting to beat around the bush like this guy seemed to be doing.

The aged man finally turned to meet Mike's eyes. "My apologies; I seem to have forgotten even the most common of courtesies over the years," he admitted, "My name is Samael."

"Alright, now we're getting somewhere..." Mike said, glad to have finally heard this stranger say something normal for a change.

The man named Samael chuckled. "I'm sorry if I've sounded cryptic, but I'm afraid everything that I've said is nevertheless true," he explained, his expression immediately becoming grim again, "This place really is purgatory."

"What do you mean?" Mike asked, trying to make his confusion sound more obvious so as to urge Samael to explain more in detail.

Samael's face suddenly turned grim, as if a dark memory had just resurfaced within his mind. This made Mike uneasy, as he didn't know whether or not he should've been terrified by this sudden change of expression. On the one hand, he hadn't once presented himself as threatening towards Mike so far; in fact, he'd actually proven to be quite decent with him, despite his cryptic words. On the other hand, however, he had no idea how Samael would react if Mike said anything that was out of line to him; for all he knew, the man was ready to kill Mike at a moment's notice, one way or another.

But thankfully, Samael's next action was in no way concerning for Mike at all: instead, he merely began to move his right hand towards the left sleeve of his duster as he spoke: "Tell me, my boy... do you know what this is?"

Mike's eyes now followed the man's hand as it pulled up his sleeve, and what was revealed beneath it sent a shock through him: it was the same exact X-shaped scar that he had on his own left arm—the same scar that had burned until he started following the path it wanted him to take that led him here.

"Th-that cut..." Mike stammered in his disbelief, "That's the same one I have..."

"That is the Mark of Death," he finally explained, "And I used mine to draw you out here."

Mike looked down to where he knew his own Mark was underneath his sleeve. "So that was you making it burn so much..." Mike figured aloud, "And why it hurt less and less the more I walked in this direction..."

"Correct," the Samael confirmed as he pulled his sleeve down again, turning to look out at the town before them once more.

"But why me?" Mike implored further, "What's so special about me that you brought me all the way out—"

"Nothing," Samael cut Mike off, "When my Mark draws out another Mark-bearer like yourself, it's completely random. I've called upon others who have traveled across the globe just to come here before."

Mike's eyes widened with his surprise. "Wait a sec..." he muttered, "You're telling me there's MORE people like us with this thing...?"

"That's right," Samael replied simply, "In fact, this entire town's population is made up of people who bear it just like you; many of whom I summoned here using my Mark as well."

Mike turned his gaze back to the town and its inhabitants below him. So all of these people had the same "Mark of Death" on their arms too? But what was the point of gathering so many people with the same thing on their arms in one place like this...?

"But I digress."

Samael's voice interjected through Mike's busy thoughts, bringing him back to reality as he now spoke, "There is much more for you to learn, but for the time being, it's time for your test."

"And I believe your proctor..." Samael said eerily now as he looked out into the town again, "Should be arriving right about... now."

Mike now turned his head to look out towards the town again, but who he saw walking towards them was different compared to every other person in the town: the man was wearing what looked like a tattered, dark-purple cape, held together in the front with many buckles. The fabric with said buckles wrapped around his shoulders, which the cape protruded from in the back. The rest of his attire beneath the cape was a navy-blue shirt with black pants, also heavily decorated with buckles, belts, and pockets. His boots were also black, and at his side was what appeared to be the same kind of gun holster he'd seen on Samael before he'd collapsed.

The man's long, unattended hair was raven-colored, and held up by a purple headband. His piercing, crimson eyes made Mike feel uneasy without them even needing to lock with his own, and his face bore a brooding scowl that Mike could tell didn't leave his face very often.

As the overwhelming figure now stopped in front of the deck, Samael looked to him with a smile. "Good morning, Aeron," he addressed him like an old friend.

"Samael," the man named Aeron acknowledged respectfully.

His voice was deep and dark, and just the sound of it sent shivers down Mike's spine as he listened to the man speak.

Samael, with his attention still completely focused on Aeron, gestured towards Mike with his head as he said, "This boy's our newest recruit. Teach him what he needs to learn."

"Understood," the man named Aeron replied.

Samael grinned at him before turning to Mike again one more time. "Aeron here will explain more to you," he told Mike with a pat on his shoulder, "Listen and learn well."

And with that, Samael gave Aeron one last nod before entering back into the small shack that he and Mike had just exited minutes prior. Now Aeron looked to Mike, his velvet eyes piercing into Mike's ocean-blue orbs.

"You," Aeron spoke tonelessly, "Follow me."

And with that, Aeron turned and began walking back in the same direction he'd came from through the western-style town. Mike's mind raced in that millisecond that he had to make a choice: he could go with this and follow the one and only man he'd ever met that nearly scared him to death, or he could try to make a break for it and get out of this "Frontier Haven" place.

But the more he thought about it, the more option B didn't seem like much of a good choice: for one thing, he had no idea where in the desert he was, so he would probably just end up lost before dying of exhaustion like he almost had before. For another, he had a feeling that the man named Aeron might try to chase after him, and he didn't like the idea of him potentially using that revolver that he'd seen at his side earlier.

With those thoughts in mind, it was clear to Mike that he had no other choice in the matter if he wanted, at least, a chance to live. So with one more nervous gulp, Mike found his strength and followed Aeron into the town.

\- FLASHBACK END -

Dexterity High's last bell rang, signaling that the last class of the day had ended. The usual pandemonium that ensued shortly afterwards occurred: students shoving and pushing their way down the flights of steps and hallways to try and reach the glass double-doors that were the school's primary entrance and exit.

Danny and Violet met up with Marina on the second floor, where her last class of the day had just finished. They each greeted each other as they waited out the flooding of the hallways, not wanting to be run over by the charging barrage of agitated students.

"So what's everyone doing after school?" Danny asked the girls, trying to make himself heard over the obnoxiously loud voices of every other student in the hallway, "I'm thinkin' of going to try and find Mike!"

"I was just going to go home and study, myself..." Marina admitted, "My Health teacher just told us we're having a test tomorrow, so..."

Danny rolled his eyes at this response, before now turning to Violet. Violet felt both of her friends' eyes on her as she then recalled Mike's words earlier that morning: "Bring the others to the usual spot after school. I'll meet you there."

"Well..." she finally managed, "Mike actually told me when I grabbed him this morning that he wanted to meet us at the usual spot after school..."

Both Danny's and Marina's eyes lit up as they looked to each other with broad smiles, and then back to Violet as Danny exclaimed, "Why didn't you say so sooner?! That saves me the trouble of trying to find him! Let's go!"

And with that, the three friends followed the end of the crowd out of the school building, and began walking into the city.

The friends' "usual spot," as they called it, was an old, abandoned construction site near the northwestern edge of the city. Though it was completely surrounded by a chain link fence with at least ten "DO NOT ENTER" signs scattered along it, that was the reason why Mike had thought of it as the perfect spot for them to hang out when they had first started high school: no one would bother them if they were hiding where they weren't supposed to be in the first place. But after Mike's disappearance, the three remaining friends had started to meet up there less and less; until finally they just stopped going altogether after a year had passed.

The site itself was rather dull on its own: typical equipment used by the former workers were scattered about, and tools lay on top of different pieces of metal or wood that were to be used before the site's closing down.

"Anyone know why this place got shut down...?" Marina suddenly pondered as they walked through the single gate the chain link fence had in the front.

"You don't remember the story?" Danny asked her, dumbfounded, "They say that this place was where Dexterity High was originally planned to be built, but all the workers here had a mishap with a truck full of cement pipes falling on them or something. Since then, people have said that they've heard 'voices' whispering in the winds around here late at night."

Marina rolled her eyes at Danny's story. "So that's why nobody wants to come around here?" she asked incredulously, "Who still believes in ghosts?"

"Well, apparently Mike did..." Danny figured, though by his tone he seemed doubtful of those beliefs as well, "Why do you think he always had us leaving before six PM rolled around?"

"I always thought the nun who ran the orphanage he lived in had a curfew set for him..." Marina reasoned, "But I've never heard of anyone else in County Dame being afraid of ghosts."

"Well, duh!" Danny retorted exaggeratedly, "No person in their right mind openly talks about believing in real ghosts haunting a place!"

While the two continued to bicker as they approached an old trailer, Violet followed suit silently as thoughts raced through her mind and clouded her other senses, blocking out her friends' voices.

She was thinking about how Mike had always seemed to show a lot of care and affection for her his whole life, and how because of that, she'd always thought that he'd cared for her as much as she did for him. But if he had, then what were the chances that perhaps he had lost his affection for her while he was away? Or worse, what if he had fallen for someone else...?

Now she shook her head as they entered into the old workers' trailer, trying to shake that thought out of her mind. She couldn't bear to think that Mike had ever been with someone else.

Instead, she forced herself to look at the inside of the old trailer she hadn't been in for so long as she entered: small tables, a couch, and a small television that didn't even work huddled in the corner of the room. With no electricity to power anything, the small space could only serve as a small room to hang out in, but that was more than satisfactory for the four friends back in the day.

Everyone took their places in their old spots that they always used to sit in: Danny sat backwards on a chair while holding his skateboard; Marina took a chair and put her feet up on one of the small tables; Violet sat on the couch, where she and Mike always sat together after school every day.

As they waited, Danny kept his eyes focused on the window, expecting to see their old friend at any given moment. Marina kept herself busy by studying her notes for her upcoming Health test the following day. Violet, meanwhile, tried to keep her mind empty of all the concerning thoughts that she had been having since that morning. She should have been happy: the boy she loved was finally back and was going to be with her again, but instead she couldn't help but fear for the worst...

"Our guest of honor has arrived!" Danny suddenly cried out, giving Marina a startled jump as Violet's eyes lit up, and she instantly dashed for the door to open it, wanting to see Mike before anyone else.

And sure enough, the moment that door swung open, there he was: walking towards the trailer with his head slightly bowed, and his long hair hiding his eyes from Violet's sight, concealing whatever expression was upon his face.

He stopped a few paces away from the trailer door as the others gathered behind Violet. Mike finally lifted his head so that his face could be seen, and the others all beamed to see him smiling slightly.

"Long time no see, old friend!" Danny cheered happily as he pushed past Violet and jumped the stairs leading in and out of the trailer, wrapping his arms around Mike's neck in a bear hug.

"If one thing hasn't changed," Mike said flatly, "I still hate hugs."

Danny immediately loosened his grip on Mike as he awkwardly released him. Now the girls came out from the trailer as well as Marina greeted cheerfully, "Welcome back!"

"Thanks," Mike replied, and then locked eyes with Violet.

She immediately blushed for a moment before regaining the color in her face, saying, "It's good to see you again."

"Likewise," Mike said, his tone somewhat different than that of the way he spoke to anyone else.

No one else but Violet noticed this, and she broke the eye contact as she looked to the ground shyly. Little did she know that Mike understood what was running through her mind, especially after learning from Dr. Crawford about what she liked to scribble on her folders in her free time.

"Man, do I have some stories for you!" Danny's voice cut into these thoughts as he grabbed Mike by the arm, practically dragging him into the trailer as the girls followed them inside.

Danny had immediately started off talking about the things that had happened since Mike had departed before everybody had even finished sitting down again. Marina often chimed in either to make a point or to mention something that made Danny look like a laughingstock, which brought numerous irksome looks to his face as he kept telling her to shut up, to which she only laughed harder at him.

As Mike listened intently to the stories, occasionally giving a small chuckle whenever an extremely funny part was mentioned, Violet sat beside him on the couch, her eyes not lingering from his face. Everyone else was so wrapped up in Danny's stories that no one had noticed her staring at Mike, not even Mike himself. Despite the extremely happy feeling she had at finally having the person she cared for most in the world back, she still had that same feeling that he wasn't all there—like a part of him was missing.

She could definitely tell that Mike had lost a lot of patience while he was gone from the duel with Josiah, and he definitely didn't like to tolerate crap coming from anyone. But she knew that there had to have been more to it than that; she just couldn't lay a finger down on what it was.

Eventually, Danny's long-windedness finally came to an end as he concluded his compilation of tales with, "And then today you showed up, and finally gave Josiah the ass-kicking he deserved!"

Mike nodded his head as he gave a small grin and clapped. "A well-told set of stories, Danny..." Mike complimented his old friend, placing his hands down as he continued, "Looks like I've missed out on a lot."

"Oh, yeah," Marina agreed, "To quote the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities: 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.'"

Danny looked to her with a confused expression. "Just what exactly does Charles Dickens have to do with my stories?" he asked her with raised eyebrows.

"Well, those may have been some of our 'best times,' but they were also our 'worst times' 'cause Mike was missing from them," explained Marina.

That hit a deep spot in each of the gathered friends' spirits. Not only had what she'd said been beautifully poetic and well-thought of, but it was ultimately true. Mike was the one who'd brought them all together at the beginning of their friendship—the glue that bound them all to be as close as they were today.

Now Danny leaned further against his chair as he looked to Mike. "So then..." he said with a grin, "Your turn! What've you been up to these last few years?"

Immediately Mike's face went sullen, and Violet suddenly became frightened at the sight of his expression. It was not only clear that there was no way Mike would disclose what he had been through, but that stern frown told her that it had affected him a LOT worse than she—or any of them—could have even imagined.

"I'm sorry," Mike answered, "But I'm afraid I can't tell you guys about that."

"Oh, c'mon!" Danny retorted as he leaned back in his chair slightly, earning a rolling of the eyes from Marina, "I just practically lost my voice covering the last two years of OUR lives for you, but you won't do it for us?!"

"It's not about how much I have to tell," Mike replied sternly, "It's about what I have to tell."

Only now did Danny realize that Mike had become completely serious, and he could now see the grim look on Mike's face. Violet could tell by his look of realization that he was beginning to realize that whatever Mike had to tell was probably more than they could handle. And what was more, it looked like Mike had barely been able to handle it himself.

Danny calmed himself down with a long sigh, followed by a mild pause before suggesting, "Alright... if you won't give us the story, then I'll EARN the story!"

Confusion momentarily spread across Violet's and Marina's faces as Danny stood up, his arm extended and his finger pointing to Mike as he challenged: "What say we have a duel? If I win, then you gotta spill the beans about the last two years; but if you win, then I'll let it go!"

"Danny!" Marina snapped as she shot him a look, "You can't force him to tell if he doesn't want to!"

But Danny ignored Marina's words as he stared into Mike's eyes, clearly confident that Mike would take on his challenge anyway. Violet now looked from Danny to Mike anxiously, as the latter just stared back as his standing friend with an blank expression. There was no way of predicting how Mike would react to anything after today, and all she could do was just hold her breath as she, Marina, and Danny waited for Mike's response.

Finally, Mike closed his eyes calmly as he gave a small "Hmph," followed by, "Fine. Not like you'll win, anyway."

Marina shook her head as Violet gave a small sigh of relief, glad to see that Mike seemed to remain undeterred in accepting any challenge. Danny, meanwhile, slapped his knee excitedly as he cried, "Alright, then let's get this duel on the road!"

But as Marina pulled out her phone to check the time, her face paled as she saw what time it was: "Um, maybe you wanna save the duel for tomorrow..." she suggested as she looked up to them all, "It's a little past six..."

Danny immediately whipped out his phone to confirm it as Mike and Violet both glanced at their watches to see she was right. "Aw, man!" Danny cried out as he leapt from his seat, looking to Mike for one more moment as he said, "Alright, then let's meet up after school tomorrow! Then we'll throw down!"

And with that, he took a leaping bound over the concrete steps, landing on his skateboard beneath his feet as he skated out through the gate and back into the city as he cried back to his friends, "Later, guys!"

Marina could only sigh as she and the others followed suit, stepping outside from the trailer. "See you tomorrow then," she said to Mike and Violet before walking back towards her home as well.

Mike watched her as she too made her way through the gate as well, before he felt Violet tap him on his shoulder. He turned to face her as she quickly told him, "Find some way to contact me tonight if you can, alright? There's something I want to talk to you about in private."

And with that, she dashed off after the others before Mike could get a chance to reply. He was left standing there, wondering just what she could want to talk to him privately about when they'd just spent the last few hours covering over EVERYTHING from the last two years on their end. Perhaps it had something to do with the feelings for him that she harbored...?

Mike pushed the thought out from his mind. He would have time to think about it once he found a place to spend the night, which was now his current priority. So with that in mind, he made his way through the site's gate and walked into the city, ready to search for a place where he could sleep.

Next Time

Arc 1| Chapter 3: "Strength"


	3. "Strength"

Yu-Gi-Oh! Mark of Death

Arc 1 | Chapter 3: "Strength"

Opening Theme: "Raining" by Art Of Dying

Ending Theme: "Behind Blue Eyes" by Limp Bizkit

County Dame's cityscape was vast and widespread: large structures and buildings played host as headquarters for various businesses and companies. Those who actually lived in the city either resided in nice, roomy apartments, or owned their own houses amongst the buildings. There were a few smaller, shabbier apartments built out of bricks, where those without as much money resided.

It was around 9 PM when the moon finally stepped out from behind the veil of clouds in the night sky. Beneath it, the light shined down on Mike as he walked his way past all of the larger buildings, making his way towards the edge of the city as cars and trucks flew by on the busy streets.

Eventually, he saw where he was headed towards in the distance: a small, one-floor motel that looked like it had survived a nuclear disaster due to its age. Atop it was a sign that read "County Dame Motel" in bold, neon letters.

Mike had seen it when he'd first arrived back in the city that morning. It was his one and only place he knew he could stay without attracting attention, considering the place was more often home to tourists, which were scarce enough as it was.

When he finally arrived and stepped inside of the motel, he took note of his surroundings: the walls that were once a tan, beige color were now faded, and a single maroon door that must have led to the rentable rooms was placed on the opposite wall next to the sliding glass mini-doors above the reception counter. Behind the glass, Mike could see a skinny old man with stringy grey hair sitting bored in his lonely office, until his eyes came into contact with Mike's.

"Hello, and welcome to the County Dame Motel!" he ran what must have been his usual introductory spiel, "All I need is your name and how many nights you'll be staying, and you can either pay now or before you leave!"

Mike approached the desk casually as he reached into his duster's inner pockets. From them he pulled three one-hundred dollar bills and placed them on the desk in front of the old man, who looked from the money to Mike with a greedy look on his face. It was obvious he didn't get much business as it was, so any amount of money like that placed in front of him must have always put a smile on his face.

"What say you give me a room for two nights, for now..." Mike asked in both a calm but stern tone, "And forget the name?"

The old man took a moment to think about this before giving into his avarice: "Alright, deal!" he agreed as he took the money and placed it away in his register, and then reached for a small envelope at his side that he then handed to Mike; "In here's your key to room 103, and the password to our complimentary Wi-Fi! Please make sure you return both before leaving."

"No problem," Mike confirmed his understanding, "Thanks."

And without another word, Mike stepped through the red door into a long, bland hallway. He perused each of the doors, searching for the one his key was supposed to go to, until he finally found it near the end of the hallway. He took the old, rusted key from the envelope and inserted it into the door's lock, turning it to open the door.

Inside, the small room was the same faded beige color that the rest of the place was. A box-shaped, twelve-inch television was mounted atop a desk on the right side of the room from the door. To the left was a small bed with a red comforter and white sheets, next to a small night stand with a lamp that was already lit on it. A fairly-sized window was on the wall opposite of the door, but the only view it provided was a good look at the parking lot.

Mike threw himself on his bed, still completely clothed, and pulled from his pocket a small, touch-screen cell phone. He unlocked it, and immediately set to connecting it to the motel's "complimentary" Wi-Fi. Once that was accomplished, he opened his internet browser and went to the Facebook login page.

He thanked his lucky stars that he still remembered his old email and password as he plugged them into the login screen, and soon enough his news feed flashed before his eyes, with his name, "Mike Harper," at the top left-hand corner next to a picture taken years ago:

It was Mike, Violet, Danny, and Marina at the beach four years ago, celebrating the former three's entry into high school. Marina had been there to celebrate with her friends, happy for them despite still being stuck in eighth grade. She had been shorter than all the others at the time, and her wet hair was still in the braid she'd put it in earlier that day. She was wearing pink sports shorts beneath a white sleeveless shirt, and appeared to have been laughing as the camera had clicked. She looked much different without her glasses on.

Danny was next to her, his arms around both Marina's and Mike's necks. His mouth hung open as he smiled, and his tanned, shirtless form was dripping from his previous dip in the ocean. His bathing suit was a red and orange color, nearly in perfect tone of color with his tan.

Mike stood next to him, a look of slight annoyance on his face from Danny's arm being around him, but a small smile was still there nonetheless. He remembered how he'd refused to get himself wet that entire day, and had managed to keep that oath: his white muscle shirt was virtually untouched, and his white camouflage shorts were still as dry as when he'd put them on that day.

Finally, Violet remained standing next to him. She had been wearing a purple bikini that day that matched the color of her hair perfectly. The one thing that Mike loved the most about Violet in this picture was the one thing about her that he hadn't seen all day: the warm smile that he had used to always see on her. He wanted to see that smile again—not from some picture, but in person.

Despite the many messages and notifications that were displayed at the top of the screen, he paid them no mind as he went into his messages folder, and tapped Violet's chat before messaging her:

Mike: hey, i managed to get on here if youre still awake.

He waited for a few moments before the chat system symbolized that Violet had received the message, and was typing back before he received:

Violet: hey, im glad you could make it :)

Mike smiled slightly to himself. He may not have seen her smile today, but seeing that she smiled before him on an online chat would have to be good enough for the time being.

Mike: remind me to thank County Dame Motel's "complimentary" wifi service

Violet: the old motel? thats where ur staying? doesnt that place have roaches?

Mike: well i haven't seen one yet, so...

Violet: lol

Mike contemplated what he ought to say next. She was the one who wanted to talk to him in the first place, so he just waited for her to continue. And sure enough, the chat symbolized that she was typing, but he only received:

Violet: so... :/

He could understand what was going through her mind: it was awkward since it was the first time that the two had spoken privately in any way for a while, and she was struggling just as much as he was to figure out what to say. So he tried to remind her just why he'd come onto Facebook in the first place:

Mike: so there was something you wanted to talk about?

She took a while before responding:

Violet: um... yeah... nvm

Mike: cmon, you can tell me.

Violet: well...

Mike now waited again, but not for very long:

Violet: why did u go away?

"No crap and straight to the point, with only a small tad of hesitation. Violet hasn't changed much..." Mike figured silently as he replied:

Mike: a lot of personal crap. itd be a while to explain.

Violet: ive got nowhere to go

Mike: you took that line from me.

Violet: lol still nothing gets by u xD

Mike: like that was going to change.

Another pause filled with more awkwardness. Then she finally got to the point:

Violet: its cuz of what happened before right?

Mike had been half-hoping that she wouldn't figure it out, but on the other hand she deserved to know since she was closer to him than anyone, also he figured that her prior knowledge about him would easily help give it away to her.

Mike: perhaps youre a little TOO smart.

Violet: WTF were u thinking? u had me scared to death worrying D:

His heart sank. He knew that she'd probably get all riled up about the potential danger he'd put himself in. And she only continued to beat down on him with guilt:

Violet: do NOT tell me it had something to do with the accident. ive told u theres no way it was your fault.

Mike shook his head. She definitely did know him too well. She had been there the day that the "accident" had occurred, and had watched it as it happened. Sometime later, she'd sat with him in an attempt to comfort him as he whimpered the words, "It's my fault..." continuously.

Mike: my actions and the purposes behind them are my concern, not yours.

He knew that was a bad thing to respond with before he'd typed it, but he wanted to at least try and lay the law down that she didn't need to get involved. But of course, she didn't budge:

Violet: do u have ANY idea how much i care about u?

Mike resisted revealing about how he knew of the scribbles that were sprawled on her folders, and instead replied:

Mike: feel free to describe it if you like.

He had her cornered: either she caved and talked about what she truly felt, or find a way to slide out of it. And when she responded, she had cleverly used option B:

Violet: weve known each other since we were kids, remember?

Mike: fair point.

Mike could now feel the heat that had been building between the two settling down, and she replied after a minute or so:

Violet: i missed you

Mike sighed exasperatedly. If there was one thing he was annoyed by more, it was dramatic moments.

Mike: back at you.

Another moment passed. Mike wondered if he ought to have hinted to her a little more just how much he had missed her. But he realized it was too late when she replied with:

Violet: i gtg. see you tomorrow?

Mike just sighed once more. If she hadn't caught on, there'd be another day to try again.

Mike: yeah. later, then.

Violet: goodnight :)

And with that, he silently thanked his lucky stars once again that the drama hadn't lasted long. He had no idea what he'd say if she'd told him the truth about her emotions towards her. He didn't feel as if he was ready to tell her how he felt the same, and to top that off—after the horrid acts he'd committed—he didn't even feel worthy of her affection.

He decided to try and take his mind off of the matter with the remaining messages and notifications, but they were all just messages and posts from people asking why he had left, or prayers that he was safe wherever he was. He had expected as much.

It was a few minutes before he finally shut his phone off, placing it down on the nightstand next to him before he rolled himself over onto his side. He didn't even bother with the provided comforter and sheet—his duster was more than enough comfort for him to fall asleep.

\- FLASHBACK -

As Mike followed the man named Aeron through the western-style town that was Frontier Haven, he got a chance to take in more of his new surroundings: aligning the center road of the town was a mix of various kinds of shops: saloons, tailors, taverns, stables etc. Intermingled among the different shops were more plain-looking buildings with no labels or signs out front, but instead were decorated with all sorts of different things such as flowers, chimes, and other kinds of front-yard ornaments, which could only have meant that they were the homes of the townspeople.

Amidst the many citizens dressed in the western-style clothes he'd seen earlier, he was now beginning to see a lot more variety in the garbs that people were wearing: from leather jackets to rags, from farmer's overalls to a young, city woman's stylish apparel. Others were dressed in more foreign garments than what Mike was used to, such as robes that looked as though they belonged to Buddhist monks, and Chinese Kung Fu shirts.

"Samael wasn't joking when he'd said he's gathered people from all over the world..." Mike realized silently as he followed Aeron round a corner into another part of town.

Now he focused his attention back on the man he was following. He could sense practically nothing from this man, both literally and figuratively. The man seemed incapable of portraying any kind of emotion, and Mike couldn't feel any kind of human-like vibe from him. The only word that came to Mike's mind to describe this man's aura was "deathly," which wasn't a comforting thought in the slightest.

"Have you ever had to fight for your life, kid?" Aeron suddenly inquired, bringing Mike out of his thoughts with a jolt.

Mike shook his head as he pondered the question. "Not unless you count my stopping jerks from beating me and my friends up back at school..." he reasoned, but he doubted that this answer was anywhere close to what Aeron was referring to.

It was in this moment that Mike realized that the two of them had suddenly arrived at what appeared to be the edge of the town, as they walked out under what was an arching overhead sign with the name "FRONTIER HAVEN" printed on it in big, bold letters.

"So what's the point of bringing me all the way out here, anyway?" Mike asked.

"This is where you'll be tested," Aeron spoke simply without so much as a glance towards Mike, "To see if you're worthy enough to be a soldier in Samael's army."

Mike stopped in his tracks at this statement as his eyebrows rose in confusion. "Wait, what the hell do you mean by army...?" he demanded to know, his heart beginning to race.

Aeron, having not stopped walking outwards a little more, explained: "Not far from here is another town called Saddleburry, which is controlled by a man named Keir and his gang of duelists, called the Romans. Once every week, someone from that town and someone from Frontier Haven square off in a duel to the death."

Mike became petrified where he stood when he heard those words, while Aeron continued: "Each week, Samael and Keir take turns to choose two duelists—one from each town—to duel.

"Being the best duelist in Frontier Haven," Aeron now stopped about ten feet away from Mike before turning to finally face him again, "Samael, of course, chooses me to face off against one of Keir's men when it's his turn to choose who fights. However, Samael or Keir could just as easily pit either themselves or someone else against their opposing leaders.

"Unfortunately," Aeron almost sounded like it hurt him to say what he was about to, "Samael knows Keir is too strong for him, and he's never allowed me to face him either out of fear that I'll lose. In the last twenty-six years that Keir has been in charge of the Romans, no one has ever dared to challenge him.

"That's why Samael continues to bring out more Mark-bearers like you," Aeron explained, "He's hoping someone will come along whose strength will be enough to outmatch Keir's one day, so that we can finally put an end to all this fighting."

"What do you mean?" Mike asked, trying desperately to control the fear that was coursing through his mind now.

"The only reason we fight is because Keir threatened to wipe out Frontier Haven, and everyone in it, if we didn't agree to his twisted game," was Aeron's answer, "I first arrived in Frontier Haven twenty years ago, and since then I've been the only chance that Samael and the citizens of Frontier Haven have had to survive. Keir could just as easily have challenged and eliminated me a long time ago, but the bastard's too lazy to dirty his own hands. Not to mention he doesn't give a damn who amongst his own people dies."

"I see..." Mike had to stop and think about what he was hearing again for a moment. "So this Keir guy... and the rest of his 'Romans'... they all have this 'Mark of Death' on them too...?"

Aeron's answer came in the form of him pushing up his left-arm sleeve, revealing his own X-shaped scar etched into his skin to Mike. "Just like you, me, and everyone else in Frontier Haven do, yes," he confirmed before pulling his sleeve back down.

Mike took a moment now to let everything he'd just heard settle in for a time as he tried to regain some composure. So the man named Samael that he'd met earlier was hoping that he'd be the one to defeat this Keir person in a duel... and then kill him...?

Mike's blood felt like it had turned to ice with that thought. He could never have brought himself to kill someone, even if his life depended on it. The idea of dueling to the death alone was completely barbaric as it was, but to be expected to do it... the whole idea was out of the question in Mike's mind, especially considering his "accident" ten years prior...

Now he managed to lock eyes with Aeron again. "Just how would you expect me to kill this 'Keir,' anyway...?" he asked with a shaky breath.

Aeron's took the gun from the holster at his side and held it near his wrist, where it then seemed to firmly attach itself to him as the gun's barrel transformed itself into a Duel Monsters deck zone; while from the side of it fanned out the monster and spell/trap card zones.

"Let me put it this way," Aeron stated coldly, "This duel disk here, isn't just shaped like a gun for looks."

Now Mike's wide eyes were transfixed on Aeron's oddly-shaped duel disk. He was so distracted by what he'd just learned about the contraption before him that he didn't see Aeron now launch a long, steel cable at Mike's duel disk arm, latching onto him tightly and making him wince in pain for a moment as he registered what had just happened.

"I assume the deck case on your belt has your deck in it," Aeron reasoned as he now attached the other end of the steel cable to his own revolver-disk, "So let's see what it's made of."

Mike looked from the duel anchor that Aeron had just attached to his wrist back to the deathly-feeling man himself with bewilderment. "You can't expect me to fight you without a duel disk myself, do you...?" he asked incredulously.

"Hardly," was all Aeron responded with as he used his free right arm to reach into his cape, from which he pulled out another revolver-shaped duel disk, which he then tossed to Mike, who barely managed to catch it.

Now Mike looked down to the duel disk he held in his hands. If he accepted this duel, then that meant there was no turning back from joining this cause to stand against whoever this "Keir" character was. But could he really bring himself to sign on for a job that meant he might've had to kill a man? And for people he had just met and had no business with otherwise...?

"What if I refuse?" Mike finally mustered some courage to retort against this, though he had a bad feeling about what Aeron's answer would be.

And of course, to his dismay, Aeron lifted his duel disk up before answering with, "Then you'll find out the hard way that this is more than just a duel disk."

So it was either go through with all of this, or die. Aeron had painted a pretty clear picture to Mike that there was only going to be one way he was going to be able to live through this, if not for just a little while longer.

He finally gave in and followed Aeron's example, attaching the oddly-shaped duel disk to his arm before taking out his deck and shuffling it hastily. "Looks like I have no choice, then..." he figured as he then slid his deck into the duel disk's deck zone, activating it in doing so.

For the first time, Aeron cracked a small smile at Mike's submission. "That's the spirit," he spoke as he now drew five cards, "Let's see what you're made of."

Mike dealt his own five cards before he and Aeron finally cried out, "DUEL!"

\- FLASHBACK END -

The morning sun rose high above County Dame the next morning. The students of Dexterity High School were dropped off from their buses in front of the large building near the heart of the city. Out of all of the students, Josiah Sullivan was the only one absent, apparently still recovering from the humiliation he'd suffered at Mike's hands.

Violet stepped off of the stairs of her bus to the tiled walkway, her conversation with Mike the previous night bustling in her mind like her surrounding fellow classmates. She clutched her books and folders close to her chest as she bowed her head, trying to keep as much to herself as possible to allow her thoughts to continue undisturbed.

Her plan to try and muster up the courage to try and tell him just how she truly felt about him had failed. In the end, she had forced herself to not do it over that chat, deciding that when she told him about her true emotions towards him, she wanted to do it face to face; not over a Facebook chat where it didn't feel like it meant anything. Violet wanted her confession to show that he meant everything to her.

Aside from that... there was still only one other thing on Violet's mind that morning: what if, in truth, he only cared about her so much as a friend? That was the main thing that was holding her back as well. She'd dropped hints to him many times before—only vaguely so as to not give it fully away—but there had been moments where she'd inadvertently let too much emotion show as well. If he'd picked up on it by now when he still hadn't reacted to it, it only meant he was as much of a jerk to just let Violet get her hopes up, or Mike really did like her back and didn't know how to react...

As Violet sat down in Mr. Carnell's class once again, she seriously continued to hope it was the second possibility that was the truth. She couldn't bear the thought of him not having feelings for her back. Her mind was so far away from reality, she did not see Danny leap into the desk next to her excitedly, no matter how noticeably obnoxious he was being.

"This is it!" he said enthusiastically, "Today's the day I finally get to duel against Mike again!"

He turned to look at Violet, and his smile turned into a concerned frown when he saw how distanced she was. He nudged her gently as his words worked their way into her mind: "Penny for your thoughts?"

Violet looked over to him now, and just shook her head. "Just... it's been a lot to take in, y'know? Kinda still getting over the fact that he's actually back..."

Danny nodded his understanding as he put his feet up on his desk. "Yeah, I'm still getting over it myself, I'll admit..." he told her, putting his arm around her again, "But ya just gotta be happy about it, right? I mean, yeah, he seems to have been through a lot; and maybe he's gone through a few changes, but so what? At least he's here and he's alive!"

Violet brushed Danny's arm off her shoulder with annoyance now. Normally she appreciated Danny comforting her, but she didn't like what she was hearing from him right now. "Have you even thought about the possibility that he might not be the same person we used to know?" she shot at him.

Danny looked long and hard into Violet's worrisome face, even after she looked away from him. And despite his being somewhat slow, it eventually clicked in his mind as to what she was talking about. "Ah, you're worried he doesn't like you anymore..." he said casually, leaning back in his chair lazily.

"Don't say it so loud!" she snapped at Danny, startling him slightly to the point he almost fell backwards in his chair.

"Sorry, man..." he apologized sincerely as he readjusted himself in his seat, "But seriously, why're you worried about that? It's been clear to me and Marina that you two have ALWAYS liked each other! You think that might've changed over the last two years?"

"You make it sound like you know for sure that he didn't lose his affection for me," Violet retorted, looking at him as if daring him to admit he knew something she didn't.

But unfortunately, Danny only gave a heavy sigh. "Well, I wouldn't know about that..." he admitted, "But I do know that I've known him long enough to assure you that he'd never stop caring for you. He's an old-fashioned guy—once he sets his heart on someone or something, he stays true to them or that."

Violet wanted to believe Danny with all of her heart, but a part of her was still unsure. No one knew ANYTHING about what had happened to him while he was gone. Who knew what kind of people he might have interacted with? Who knew what girls he might've met? That was a particularly disturbing thought to Violet: even if he hadn't lost his ability to love, what if he'd fallen for someone else? The thought of that alone killed Violet inside a little.

As these thoughts ran through her head, Mr. Carnell finally walked into the classroom saying, "Alright, everyone get into your seats! Mr. Stark, get your feet off your desk!"

Danny whistled innocently as he positioned himself to sit correctly in his chair while Mr. Carnell took attendance. Violet managed to at least let him know that she was there this time, but she didn't remember anything from that class afterwards—she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts and fears.

The day passed by real slowly for Violet, who could not get out of her own head and stop thinking about what might've happened to Mike while he was gone. It was almost as if a sickness had overtaken her mind, and there was unfortunately no cure that she could come up with to get rid of it.

When the final bell rang, Violet and Danny exited their last class and then hugged the second floor hallway wall to allow the other students to pass by them while they waited for Marina to come down from the third floor. Violet was still being rather reserved, clutching her books and folders tightly to her chest. Noticing how her friend was still uptight, Danny leaned over to her to make himself heard over the crowd as he asked, "Don't tell me you're still worried?"

Violet shook her head. "Actually, now I'm more nervous about just seeing Mike again..." she lied, "I forgot what it was like to be all nervous around the one you liked, y'know?"

Danny took a moment to consider what Violet had just said, and then shrugged before saying, "No, I don't know actually. I don't like anyone like that."

Violet took him saying this as an opportunity to get her mind off her troubles and tease him a little bit: "Oh, don't give me that crap. You're clearly into Marina!"

Danny's face flushed red at that. "I am not!" he shot back hurriedly, "I'm only still friends with her because we've all been friends since eighth grade!"

"Oh, please!" Violet pressed, a smile coming to her face now, "The way you two are always arguing? You two are practically an old married couple already!"

"She's a frigging year younger than me, for god's sake!" Danny retorted with annoyance, "I'm not into girls who are younger than me!"

"Okay, maybe not..." Violet led him on, and his expression returned to normal for only a moment before Violet whispered in his ear, "But she's the only exception!"

Now Danny started glaring at Violet as he breathed heavily. "You can't hit a girl!" Violet reminded him with a sly smile, knowing that his usual reaction to Mike being a wise-ass to him would be to whack him in the head.

"What're you two talking about?"

Danny sharply turned around to face Marina at the sound of her voice. "Boxing!" he blurted out stupidly, "We were talking about boxing... and how Violet and I can't box... because I can't hit a girl..."

Now Violet was stifling a laugh at her friend's stupidity while Marina eyed Danny confusedly. "Okay..." she replied, sounding like she didn't fully believe him, "Well, at least you're enough of a gentleman to not hit a girl. Now c'mon, let's go meet up with Mike!"

And just as she finished saying that, the last of the crowd finally was filing through the hallway, and Marina followed them. Danny stood there hitting his head against the lockers along the walls while Violet muttered to him, "Nice cover," before following Marina as well.

Danny hit his head one last time before following the girls now too, muttering to himself, "Boxing, Danny?! Really?!"

The three of them made their way outside from the school building as the last school buses rolled away from the building into the city.

"So when d'ya suppose Mike's gonna get here, exactly?" Danny inquired as his eyes followed the last bus driving away.

"I dunno, actually..." Violet was the one to answer, "He told me last night that he was staying at the old motel on the edge of the city."

"That old rickety place?" Danny recalled with raised eyebrows, "That's quite a walk away from here..."

"Which is why I made sure to get here early."

The three friends whipped around quickly to see where the voice had come from: there was Mike, leaning against the school building with his arms crossed. Just seeing him standing there made Violet's heart practically leap out of her chest from excitement.

Danny now darted a few paces back along the marble walkway towards the school as Mike walked to face across from him, with about ten feet between the two of them. Danny stood his ground as he dropped his book bag to his side.

"You remember the deal, right Mike?" Danny reminded Mike as he pulled his duel disk from his bag, equipping it to his left arm, "If I win this duel, you're spilling the beans about what you've been up to these last two years!"

Mike drew his revolver-shaped duel disk from its holster and put it to his wrist, allowing it to activate as his deck appeared in its barrel. "Fine by me," Mike assured him as Danny activated his own disk, "Like I said before, you'll have to actually beat me first."

Danny chuckled at that statement. "Big talk coming from someone who hasn't seen my new deck build yet!" Danny exclaimed as a smile adorned his face.

Violet and Marina stood side-by-side a little ways away from the two guys. Marina was on edge waiting for them to begin, while Violet couldn't take her eyes off of Mike. She wanted to take in every detail of his being as it was now—she wanted to be able to replace the younger version of him she had preserved in her memory with what he looked like now.

Finally, Mike and Danny drew their five cards, and cried out "DUEL!"

[Mike – LP: 8000]

[Danny – LP: 8000]

"You can have the first move," Mike offered to his best friend, his cold and stern face he had showcased during his duel with Josiah now coming to his face.

"If you insist!" Danny cried as he drew first, "I'll start with my Machina Soldier!"

[Machina Soldier – LV: 4/ATK: 1600]

Mike scoffed slightly. "Don't insult me with your usual opening move," he shot at Danny, a small smile now coming to his face, "I thought you said that this was a new build."

"Don't worry!" Danny shot back as his smile broadened, "I'm chock-full of surprises! Now my Machina Soldier lets me special summon my Machina Sniper!"

[Machina Sniper – LV: 4/ATK: 1800]

"Then I'll activate the spell card, Machina Armored Unit!" Danny continued, "Which'll come in handy for me a little later!

"For now," he wrapped up, "I'll set two cards, and end my turn! Your go!"

Mike drew silently, and scanned his hand for an opening move.

"Just like last time, I'm gonna begin by activating my Constellar Star Chart!" Mike decided as his opening move, "And like your Machina Armored Unit, this'll help me out later.

"Next I summon my Constellar Pollux to the field!" Mike continued.

[Constellar Pollux – LV: 4/ATK: 1700]

"And with Pollux's special ability," Mike explained as he took another card from his hand, "Once per turn, I can normal summon any other Constellar monster in my hand in addition to my normal one! So I'll release my Pollux to advance summon Constellar Virgo!"

[Constellar Virgo – LV: 5/ATK: 2300]

"And with its effect," Mike continued as he took yet another card from his hand, "I can now summon another LV 5 Constellar monster from my hand in DEF mode! So say hello to my Constellar Zubeneschamali!"

[Constellar Zubeneschamali – LV: 5/DEF: 1400]

"That's quite the move," Marina spoke out loud, "I've never seen Mike bust out that many high-LV monsters before."

"Neither have I..." Violet agreed, her eyes now off of Mike and focused on the entirety of the duel at last, "He used to hate utilizing high-LV monsters."

"And now," Mike continued as he took a card that popped out from his deck, "Since my Zubeneschamali was successfully normal summoned, I can add one Constellar monster from my deck to my hand! And I choose my Constellar Sombre!

"Now I have two LV 5 monsters on my field!" Mike cried as his Virgo and his Zubeneschamali now disappeared into a spatial portal, "Which means by overlaying them, I can Xyz summon my Constellar Pleiades!"

[Constellar Pleiades – RK: 5/ATK: 2500]

Danny marveled at Mike's Xyz monster with awe. "So now I get to face off against the thing that took down Josiah?!" he cried out excitedly, "Aw, hell yeah! Talk about the best day ever!"

"Not just yet," Mike corrected as he drew a card, "My Constellar Star Chart comes first.

"Now I'll launch my assault!" Mike cried as he now pointed to Danny's Sniper, "Constellar Pleiades, attack his Machina Sniper now!"

Pleiades took up its large blade and moved in to charge down Danny's Sniper, except Danny wasn't about to let that happen:

"Sniper, defend!" he cried out as his other mechanical monster suddenly threw itself in front of Machina Soldier, intercepting Pleiades as he swung his blade, only to have destroyed a different target.

[Danny – LP: 7300]

As Pleiades took its place back at the front lines of Mike's field, Mike's eyes narrowed as Danny smirked. "Sorry, Mike," he apologized, "But my Sniper has the special ability to swoop in and defend any of my other Machina monsters if they're targeted for an attack!

"And since you destroyed him, now my Machina Armored Unit triggers!" Danny explained, "And with it, I can special summon another machine-type monster, as long as it's ATK is lower than the monster just destroyed, and it has to be the same attribute too!

"So come on out!" Danny cried out as he took a card from his deck, "Scrap Recycler!"

[Scrap Recycler – LV: 3/DEF: 1200]

"And upon its cameo on the field," Danny explained, "It can take a machine-type monster in my deck and send it to the graveyard!"

Mike watched as Danny sent his Commander Covington from his deck to his graveyard, realizing all too well just what he was planning on doing in the next turn.

This strategy did not go unnoticed by Violet or Marina as well. "He's seriously thinking that he can bring his 'big win' card out?" Marina questioned to herself, "Hasn't years of trying and failing taught him anything?"

"You might be underestimating him this time, Marina," Violet countered back as she looked at the two of her friends facing off, "Danny might just get lucky."

But it was pretty apparent that Mike was not up for any surprises of any kind: "This main phase two, I use my Pleiades' effect!" he decided, "By detaching an overlay unit, I can return your Machina Soldier to your hand!"

Danny watched as his mechanical soldier faded away from the field as its card rematerialized in his hand. "Tsk," Danny uttered to himself, "Guess I should've seen that coming."

"I know what you're trying to bring out, Danny," Mike told him from across the pavement, "But I'm afraid I'm not gonna give you the chance to beat me today. Turn end."

"Then it's back to me!" Danny cried out as he drew his next card, and grinned hugely at the sight of what it was.

"Looks like he actually got what he needed for once," Marina reasoned as she looked into her slow-witted friend's expression.

"I'm gonna start by re-summoning my Machina Soldier!" Danny began, the energy in his tone beginning to rise in intensity.

[Machina Soldier – LV: 4/ATK: 1600]

"And joining him this time will be my Machina Defender!" Danny continued with unfading enthusiasm.

[Machina Defender – LV: 4/ATK: 1600]

"And next, I'll use my two Call Of The Haunted trap cards to revive the two monsters I have in my graveyard!" Danny cried as his two traps flipped, "So let's welcome back my Machina Sniper, and my Commander Covington!"

[Machina Sniper – LV: 4/ATK: 1800]

[Commander Covington – LV: 4/ATK: 1000]

Mike's eyes narrowed. "So you're actually going to manage to get it out this time," he spoke, impressed at how his best friend had actually upped his game.

"Now my Commander Covington is giving the order to have my Machina Soldier, Machina Defender, and Machina Sniper join forces!" Danny cried as his three named monsters seemed to fall apart amongst themselves; however it seemed that they were then reassembling themselves into one, GIANT mechanized mayhem of a monster.

Mike looked up at the new creature that had assembled itself to the point it was tall enough to match half of the height of the school building. Marina and Violet, having not ever seen this creature actually summoned before themselves, backed away so that they weren't directly in the shadow of the giant menace, as it felt like it could crash down upon them any moment.

"Now bear witness as my ultimate monster finally takes form!" Danny exclaimed as he proudly watched his monster take form, his face flushed with an expression that clearly showed he had never been happier with himself until this very moment; "I summon Machina Force!"

[Machina Force – LV: 10/ATK: 4600]

"Unbelievable..." Marina uttered under her breath as she marveled at the sight of Danny's ace in the hole.

Violet had heard Marina's impressed tone, but she didn't feel the need to draw attention to it. Instead, she now took her eyes off of the gigantic creature to look at Mike, who was eyeing the creature carefully, as if he was trying to take it apart mentally in his mind to figure out where its off button was.

"You're not gonna let that thing stay on the field for too long, are you...?" Violet asked Mike silently as she looked to him, wondering just what Mike had going through his head in this very moment.

"Now by giving up 1000 LP," Danny now explained, "My Machina Force is allowed to attack! So go and pummel that Pleiades into the pavement!"

[Danny – LP: 6300]

Machina Force brought its huge fist down upon Mike's Pleiades, flattening it outright and destroying it. The shockwaves of the attack made Violet and Marina flinch to shield themselves, while Mike stepped back a few paces as the mechanical fist came down and then rose up again right in front of him.

[Mike – LP: 5900]

"And you know what else?" Danny cried out, a fire in his eyes he hadn't had since the days before Mike had left, "I still have two attacks left! One from my Recycler and one from my Covington! So now I'll have them attack too!"

Scrap Recycler moves swiftly on its small wheels and had its metal-chomping mouth chomp down on Mike's arm, while Commander Covington charged with arms out straight through Mike. The direct contact from these attacks almost made him lose his footing, but he managed to keep himself grounded as the mechanical monsters now moved back to Danny's side of the field.

[Mike – LP: 5000]

[Mike – LP: 4000]

Mike readjusted himself as Danny finally finished, "And I think that'll do to finish my turn!"

As Mike now stood tall again, he found himself smiling—even laughing—which left Violet, Marina, and especially Danny confused. After seeing how he'd been in the duel against Josiah, seeing Mike actually looking happy during a duel came as a bit of a surprise to them.

"What're ya laughing about over there?" Danny called out to his best friend, wondering just what could be going through his mind.

Mike managed to regain control over himself as he then replied, "Y'know, it's funny... funny how two years can make you forget the definition of 'fun'...

"But I think I'm starting to remember it now," Mike spoke honestly as he glanced towards Violet and Marina on the sidelines, "So thanks for the reminder, guys."

Though everyone was touched by these words, no one was more so than Violet. Though she, Danny and Marina had no idea what had happened to Mike while he was away, but it seemed that he hadn't completely changed as they had all feared.

"He's really is the same boy I fell in love with 14 years ago..." Violet realized as she smiled the biggest smile she'd ever had in a long time.

Mike now brought his attention back to the duel as he drew his next card, and looked for a good move to follow up against Danny's last strike. "Alright, so I've got a giant bucket of bolts staring me down along with two other small fries," he figured as he observed Danny's field, "But he did leave himself wide open with no spells or traps to protect himself... perfect."

"I summon Constellar Sombre!" Mike began his move.

[Constellar Sombre – LV: 4/ATK: 1550]

"And this guy is my ace in the hole!" Mike explained as he now took his Pleiades from his graveyard, "By banishing any Constellar monster in my graveyard, I can then bring back to my hand any other Constellar monster in the graveyard I choose! So now my Constellar Pollux can come on back!"

As Mike added his Pollux to his hand, Danny could almost see a little plan forming in Mike's head. He almost hoped that Mike might find a way to take out his Machina Force, just to give him a challenge.

"Even if you DO find a way to take down my Force..." Danny reasoned in his head, "I already have a plan in place that will let me rebound just as fast.

"So take your best shot at me, Mike..." Danny challenged in his mind, "I wanna see you at your very best!"

"Now I'm gonna start having a little fun of my own!" Mike continued, "By using my Sombre's first effect, I've now unlocked a hidden power that allows me to normal summon another Constellar monster this turn! So let's welcome back Constellar Pollux!"

[Constellar Pollux – LV: 4/ATK: 1700]

"And now I'll overlay Sombre and Pollux to Xyz summon another creature that you're already acquainted with!" Mike cried out, "I Xyz summon Starliege Paladynamo!"

[Starliege Paladynamo – RK: 4/ATK: 2000]

Danny smiled at the old monster of Mike's as Marina's and Violet's eyes widened as they realized what it was they were looking at: both Mike's and Danny's ace monsters had finally appeared on the field, about to face off in battle for the first time.

This did not go unnoticed by Danny. "So your old ace monster finally gets to go against my true ace monster..." Danny mused with a wide smile, "Who knew it'd take this many years for it to happen?"

Mike smiled as he gave a small chuckle. "I thought it only appropriate to take down your boss monster with my own," Mike told him truthfully, "I use Starliege Paladynamo's effect!

"By detaching both overlay units," Mike explained as he pointed at Machina Force, "Your oversized scrap yard loses all of its abilities and ATK!"

[Machina Force – ATK: 0]

"Now, Starliege..." Mike commanded his old friend, "Attack Machina Force!"

Paladynamo took up his large spatial blade and charged forward, stabbing right into the core of Machina Force and passing right through it as it exploded above Danny's head.

Violet and Marina all watched with dropped jaws as Machina Force tumbled down as a scrap heap directly on top of Danny, who cried out in panic as he flinched while his monster came down upon him.

[Danny – LP: 4300]

The Machina Force's image finally faded, revealing Danny as he struggled to make it back up on his feet. "Oh, I am SO glad these monsters aren't real..." he managed to mutter as he finally got back on two legs, "Pretty sure I'd have been a pancake there otherwise...!"

Marina let out a quick gasp of a laugh at this remark, but she stifled it just as quickly. Violet turned to look at her with a slight grin on her face, while Marina shot back a quick glare, as if saying, "You didn't hear ANYTHING."

Back in the duel field, Mike gave a small "Hmph," before finally stating, "Well, pancake or no pancake, your ace monster's life was unfortunately short-lived."

"Maybe so..." Danny retorted as he managed to regain his footing completely, "But you forgot one very important detail..."

Mike's eyebrows rose as he then realized what Danny meant as his Machina Armored Unit spell card began to glow, signaling its effect was now activating yet again.

"Since you just destroyed a monster with 4600 ATK, I can now summon out any machine with the same attribute and ATK less than that!

"So let's give a warm welcome to my Machina Fortress!" Danny cried as his new Machina burst from the ground before him.

[Machina Fortress – LV: 7/ATK: 2500]

Marina went wide-eyed at this surprise move by Danny. "Well, well…" she muttered, impressed yet again, "Danny was actually able to come up with a safeguard in case his strongest monster got totaled. He really has come a long way."

Violet now looked to Marina with a playful expression. "Am I detecting glorification coming from you towards him?" she teased.

"Shut up!" Marina shot back at her as her face flushed red, to which Violet responded by sticking her tongue out at her.

Mike now eyed Danny's Machina Fortress carefully. He could admit that he hadn't expected such a comeback from Danny, so it was his fault for not taking extra precautions against him ahead of time.

"I set three cards face down..." Mike concluded cautiously, "And that's all for now."

"Then I'm up!" Danny cried as he drew, his smile still beaming as he now looked at the two cards he had left in his hand.

But upon inspection, his expression immediately let everyone else know that he was perfectly confident in what he was doing as he now looked to Mike, saying "Pretty soon you're gonna be telling us just what you've been up to these last few years!" he reminded Mike, "And don't think you're not gonna tell me, 'cause I'm planning on winning this duel!"

Mike remained unmoving and still, only staring back into Danny's eyes intensely.

It was in this moment that Violet took notice of a habit of Mike's: just mentioning whatever he'd been doing or where he'd been the last two years seemed to make him go silent, and even become a little colder in terms of his tone and personality. That was how he had been when he had first gotten back, and that's how he'd gotten the first time Danny asked about the last two years.

"Maybe trying to force an explanation out of him through this duel isn't such a good idea..." Violet reasoned in her mind, worried that perhaps this was possibly something that would only push Mike away from them...

"I'll start by putting into play my Solidarity continuous spell!" Danny cried, "Which means as long as I've only got one type of monster in my grave, all my monsters on the field with the same type will all gain 800 ATK!"

[Machina Fortress – ATK: 3300]

[Scrap Recycler – ATK: 1700]

[Commander Covington – ATK: 1800]

"No way..." Violet said with widened eyes, causing Marina to turn to her with curiosity, "With that much firepower on his side now, if all of those monsters attack... then Mike's gonna lose..."

Marina's eyes were now wide too as she realized her best friend was right. "So does that mean..." she spoke as she turned her attention back to the duel, "That Danny's finally going to beat Mike...?"

Meanwhile, Danny was now waging battle: "Now it's time to get Machina Force's revenge, Fortress!" he declared as he indicated Mike's warrior to his tank, "Attack and destroy Starliege Paladynamo!"

The large, tank-like creature began rolling speedily towards Mike's warrior, despite its ginormous size. Violet and Marina held their breaths, waiting to see if this really was about to be the end for Mike.

But Mike wasn't ready to go down yet: "I reveal my Twister quick-play spell!" he countered as the set card on his field flipped, "By paying 500 LP, it can destroy one face-up spell or trap card on the field! So say goodbye to your Solidarity continuous spell!"

[Mike – LP: 3500]

A huge gust of wind suddenly picked up within the duel field, forming a small twister that immediately shot itself at Danny's face-up card, sweeping it away from the field.

"And with that gone," Mike said confidently while Danny gritted his teeth, "Your monsters' ATK values all return to their original states!"

[Machina Fortress – ATK: 2500]

[Scrap Recycler – ATK: 900]

[Commander Covington – ATK: 1000]

Danny could only growl in frustration before bellowing out, "It doesn't matter! I'm still gonna destroy Paladynamo with my Fortress!"

The big, blue tank continued on its way towards Mike's space-themed warrior, slamming itself roughly into him before he shattered. Mike braced himself from the force of the impact, surprised that it created as much of a shockwave as it had.

[Mike – LP: 3000]

"And I'm not done yet!" Danny reminded Mike, "I still have my Recycler and my Covington! So I'll have them attack now!"

Danny's two smaller monsters assaulted Mike once again, passing through him as they drained his LP even further.

[Mike – LP: 2000]

[Mike – LP: 1100]

Violet's and Marina's faces were stricken by what they had just seen. For a small portion of his LP, Mike had managed to keep himself from losing all of his LP in this turn. And not only that, but he'd actually let himself get hit with that much damage anyway even when he had two set cards. To them, it would've made more logical sense for Mike to have used something that prevented such an onslaught.

But Mike still let his face down cards lay as they were as he said, "Not a bad move, but you triggered my Paladynamo's special ability—one that lets me draw one card when he's destroyed!"

As Mike drew his card, Danny scoffed slightly. "I still don't know how you expect to beat me, I gotta be honest..." he told his best friend, "I mean, look at what I've got compared to what you've got now!"

"Except," Mike countered with a grin, "You didn't notice who was at the real disadvantage, did you?"

One of Danny's eyebrows rose in confusion, as he tried to determine just what Mike had meant. But when he couldn't discern the meaning for himself, Mike pointed it out for him: "I currently have two cards in my hand and will be drawing my third next turn, giving me a variety of options. You, on the other hand, only have a giant tank and a few other small monsters on your field, and one card left in your hand. And you're about to end your turn."

"So tell me..." Mike now gave his friend a quizzical look, "Who do you think is really screwed here?"

Danny felt himself go pale as those words sank into him. The fact of the matter was, Mike was right: he had never even considered how much of an advantage Mike had over him. That's why Mike hadn't counteracted his Paladynamo's destruction—he'd wanted him to be destroyed so he could get the extra draw and prepare for a strong counterattack afterwards.

"That could only mean..." Danny came to realize, "That he's planning on trying to finish the duel next turn..."

This same thought ran through Violet's and Marina's minds as well. It usually was at times like this when Mike went for the win: when his opponent's defenses were cut short and he was at a better hand advantage.

But Danny wasn't about to go down without a fight. "If he wants to try and get around my Fortress, he can go right ahead..." he mused in his mind, "I'm ready for whatever he's got!"

"I'll set one card face down," he wrapped up his turn, "And that ought to do it."

Mike drew once more, and looked at the three cards he now held in his hand. From the look on his face, Danny could tell that Mike was ready to call this duel over. He would have to hope that his face-down card was the key to disabling any plan Mike wanted to set into motion.

"I'll start by summoning Constellar Algiedi!" Mike began.

[Constellar Algiedi – LV: 4/ATK: 1600]

"And thanks to his special ability," Mike continued, "I can special summon another LV 4 Constellar monster from my hand! And I choose my Constellar Kaus!"

[Constellar Kaus – LV: 4/ATK: 1800]

"But I won't be needing my Kaus's ability to raise any of my monsters' LVs," Mike explained, bringing a mildly surprised look to Danny's face, "Instead, I'm going to overlay my two LV 4 monsters just as they are!

"And by building the overlay network," Mike cried out, "I Xyz summon Constellar Praesepe!"

[Constellar Praesepe – RK: 4/ATK: 2400]

"And now my Star Chart activates," Mike explained, "Letting me draw one more time!"

Danny immediately formulated what he thought was Mike's plan in his head as Mike drew: "I get it now..." he reasoned as he observed Mike's bulky warrior, "You're hoping to get past my Fortress's 2500 ATK by boosting up your Praesepe's ATK to 3400 with its effect, right?"

"Actually, you skipped a step!" Mike explained as he took another card from his hand, "Remember this card, Danny?"

As it materialized on the field, Danny's, Marina's, and Violet's eyes widened the most they had done yet that day as Mike cried out, "It's my Riryoku spell card! And with it, I'll be taking half of your Fortress's ATK—1250 of it, to be exact—and add it to my Praesepe's strength!"

[Machina Fortress – ATK: 1250]

[Constellar Praesepe – ATK: 3650]

Danny clenched his jaw now as Mike finally cried out, "Now, Constellar Praesepe! Wipe out Machina Fortress!"

Praesepe raised his fists as he dashed towards Machina Fortress, ready to deliver the blow that would destroy it.

Danny, however, wasn't about to go down without a real fight: "I flip the quick-play spell, Limiter Removal!" he cried out, "Meaning I can double my Fortress's ATK to the strength it was at before!"

"I'm afraid that's not gonna happen!" Mike cried as he now flipped one of his set cards, "I flip my own quick-play spell, Forbidden Lance!"

This took Danny, Marina, and Violet by surprise. "What does that do?" Danny demanded to know.

"Glad you asked," Mike replied as now Praesepe and Fortress collided, each trying to gain dominance over the other, "Any monster I choose not only loses 800 ATK, but it also can't be affected by other spells and traps from this point forward!

"And since I chained it to your Limiter Removal," Mike reasoned with a smirk, "Your monster's ATK won't be doubling on me after all!"

[Machina Fortress – ATK: 450]

Danny's eyes narrowed—he hadn't anticipated Mike having one last trick like this up his sleeve. Despite all of his best efforts, Danny had once again come up short against his best friend.

"Now I'll activate my Praesepe's ability!" Mike continued, "By detaching one overlay unit, he gains 1000 more ATK during the damage step!"

[Constellar Praesepe – ATK: 4650]

Everyone's eyes were now glued to the battle between Praesepe and Fortress as their ATK values were finally decided for the battle, but only Danny had one more thing to add to it all: "There's still my Machina Fortress's special ability!" he cried out, "When it's destroyed in battle, it destroys any other card on your field that I choose! So if my Machina Fortress is gonna go down, he's taking your Praesepe with him!"

That officially brought the battle between Mike's bulky warrior and Danny's mechanized tank to the ultimate climax as they forced themselves into each other, resulting in an explosion that destroyed both of them and sending shockwaves in every direction. Danny and Mike braced themselves against the force of the attack as Marina and Violet shielded their eyes from the light of the explosion.

[Danny – LP: 100]

By the time the winds had died down and the light had faded, Marina and Violet opened their eyes to see both duelists facing each other, panting slightly from the intensity of the battle that had just ensued.

"I gotta say..." Danny said between breaths, "I didn't see that coming... you really have gotten a lot stronger, Mike..."

Mike grinned slightly at this remark. "You as well, Danny..." he complimented his best friend honestly, "You've definitely proved to me how much of a better duelist you've become."

"Yeah..." Danny breathed shakily, "Well, don't count me out of this duel yet, 'cause I still have my Machina Armored Unit on my field! And with it, I can special summon Green Gadget to my field to join my Recycler and my Covington, only in DEF mode!"

[Green Gadget – LV: 4/DEF: 600]

"And with its effect, I can add Red Gadget from my deck to my hand!" Danny continued as he took the card from his deck, "And then next turn, I'll show you something from my deck that you haven't seen before!"

Mike only smiled slyly as he replied, "I'm afraid that's not gonna happen, Danny."

Danny's eyebrows rose at this. "What do you mean?" he shot back, hoping Mike wasn't talking about what he thought he was.

"Simple," Mike spoke coolly, "This duel is about to end."

Danny, Marina, and Violet each thought that their hearts had stopped as Mike explained, "I knew that Machina Fortress had the effect to destroy any card on the field, and I knew you'd destroy my Praesepe out of sport.

"But if you'd destroyed this..." Mike explained as he flipped over his final set card, "You probably would've won."

Danny could only stare in awe at Mike's Xyz Reborn trap card before bowing his head as he slightly laughed to himself. "I should've known..." he muttered, "You really DID have it all thought out..."

"Of course I did," Mike replied as he raised his hand to indicate the beam of light that would rebirth his chosen monster, "So now, my Constellar Praesepe rises once again, while my trap becomes an overlay unit for him!"

[Constellar Praesepe – RK: 4/ATK: 2400]

Danny could only watch with wide eyes as Mike spoke: "Now use that overlay unit, give yourself 1000 more ATK, and strike down Commander Covington, Praesepe!"

[Constellar Praesepe – ATK: 3400]

Praesepe barreled itself and thrust its arm into Covington, who gave a frightened cry before exploding as Danny, with realization on his face, fell to his knees as his LP drained to nothing.

[Danny – LP: 0]

Marina brought her hands to her mouth to conceal her ultimately surprised expression. Violet thought she caught a glimpse of what appeared to be pity for Danny in Marina's eyes, but she decided not to rib her on it; she'd made both her and Danny blush enough for one day, and she was also taking in the finish of this duel just as much as Marina was.

As the duel disks deactivated and Praesepe disappeared, Mike began walking towards his grounded best friend, who muttered to himself with a smirk, "Man, all this time I spent trying to get stronger... and I still couldn't beat you..."

"Well, I wouldn't put it past you that you could," Mike said as he looked down at Danny, "You came pretty close."

Violet and Marina approached them as Mike helped Danny back onto his feet. "I guess this means you're not gonna talk about the last two years after all, huh...?" Danny figured.

Mike scoffed at that. "You weren't getting that story anyway," was his retort.

"OH, OKAY!" Danny shot back in an exaggerated rage, "I SEE HOW IT IS!"

That earned laughter from everyone else as Danny stood there steaming, but he quickly simmered down.

"I gotta say, though; that was probably one of the most amazing duels I've ever seen..." Marina admitted as she pulled herself together, "But you could still use a little improvement, Danny."

Danny could only rub the back of his head with a sheepish smile at that remark. "Hey, at least give me some credit for finally getting Machina Force out!" he shot back, but Marina just shook her head.

Danny shrugged Marina's cold-shouldered remark off as Violet smiled at Mike, who caught her eye and returned the smile as well. She had a feeling that the two of them had the same exact thought: things were finally beginning to return to normal.

Danny now brought his arms up over his head to stretch as he said, "Well, at least we still have a whole afternoon left to hang out..."

He suddenly looked to Mike as a sly grin spread across his face. "Race ya to the trailer?" he challenged Mike as his arms came down.

Mike could only smile in response as he shot back, "You'll lose that, too."

And without another word, the two best friends made a mad dash down the sidewalk, neck-in-neck with each other as they ran towards the other side of the city.

Marina shook her head at the two of them as she stood alongside Violet. "Boys..." she muttered, sounding both annoyed and amused as her eyes followed Danny in particular before she chased after them, and Violet followed suit.

To her, life looked like it was going to just keep getting better for her from this point forward.

Next Time

Arc 1 | Chapter 4: "Ties"


	4. "Ties"

Yu-Gi-Oh! Mark of Death

Arc 1 | Chapter 4: "Ties"

Opening Theme: "Raining" by Art Of Dying

Ending Theme: "Behind Blue Eyes" by Limp Bizkit

The four friends arrived at the trailer within the 4 PM hour, which gave them plenty of time to hang out and talk for the rest of the afternoon after the intense duel between Mike and Danny earlier.

As they all talked and reminisced, Violet found herself unable to keep her eyes from darting to look at Mike. The duel he and Danny had wrapped up hours ago had just proven to her that Mike really was the same person that she'd fallen for fourteen years ago, and she felt ashamed to have ever thought otherwise like she had before.

Though she thought she was doing a good job at keeping her glances at Mike secretive, little did she know that Mike had immediately taken notice of them out of the corner of his eye. And also unbeknownst to her was the fact that Mike still felt the same way for her as she did for him—he was just better at concealing his feelings than she was.

After a few hours, as Danny and Marina argued about what was more important—studying for your dream life or practicing academics—Mike glanced at his watch to check the time. And upon inspection, he was glad he did when he saw what time it was:

"Five-fifty, guys," he interrupted their argument, gaining both of their attentions as they now checked their own devices.

Danny let out a low whistle as he shoved his phone back in his back pocket while saying, "Man, good save there, Mike! I'm heading out!"

And as always, he took a leaping bound out the door of the trailer before dashing for home on his skateboard. Marina now stood up as well, stretching her arms as she shot Violet a look, as if saying "I can't believe THAT is the guy that I like," before saying to her two friends, "Well, I guess we should all be taking off then. I'll see you tomorrow."

Mike and Violet bid her their goodbyes before Marina stepped out of the trailer as well, leaving the two alone on the couch.

Mike now stood to follow suit as Violet's mind raced. This was a perfect opportunity to discuss her feelings with him, while they were alone and he was right in front of her face. She wanted to take the chance—to be honest about her affection for him and make her love known.

But the same things held back her words: the chance that he didn't care for her in the same way, and the possibility that maybe he'd met someone else while he was away.

It was times like these where she hated being so emotionally fragile. It made it so difficult for her to come clean about how she really felt to anyone since she was always afraid of being hurt.

"Hey, you coming?"

She snapped out of her thoughts at Mike's voice, and looked to see he was looking to her as he stood in the trailer's doorway.

"Um..." she managed to mutter out as she composed herself, "Yeah, it's just that..."

Mike now watched her inquisitively as she took a breath, unsure of what she was going to say afterwards before blurting out, "Would you mind walking home with me?"

Violet nearly clasped her hands onto her mouth after she said that, but resisted. She didn't know where it had come from, and it certainly wasn't along the lines of what she really wanted to say to him. And if he didn't care for her like that back, then this might've been asking too much.

But whatever divine power was in charge of luck had to have been smiling down on Violet, as Mike only gave a small chuckle before replying with, "Sure, of course."

Violet thanked whatever divine being was watching over her as she stood up, and Mike kept the door open for her as she stepped out from the trailer into the construction yard. Mike followed suit, but as he did found himself surprised when the ring of his cell phone came from within his duster.

Violet stopped to look at Mike, who held up a finger to give her the signal that he needed a second as he pulled his phone from his duster's inside pocket. He unlocked his screen to look at the text he had just received:

Dr. Crawford: sorry to bother you, but I need you to come by my office at school at 8 tonight. its urgent.

Mike could tell that this was definitely an unavoidable matter given that Dr. Crawford had emphasized the urgency of his presence. He immediately replied back:

Mike: ill be there, dont worry.

Now he replaced his phone in his pocket as he looked back to Violet, who looked at him with a curious face. "Got somewhere I have to be later tonight," he explained to her, "Nothing bad."

"At this hour?" she questioned as she now began walking alongside Mike.

"Yeah," Mike replied as they crawled underneath the fence and started walking into the city, "Only two days back in town and I'm already a busy man."

Violet couldn't help but giggle at this remark as she felt her smile plaster itself to her face. She'd never felt this genuinely happy in a long time.

The two spent their walk through the city in silence as the sun set behind the large towers in the city. They were each silent for different reasons: Violet was afraid of saying practically anything to Mike, given the fact that she didn't want to say anything that might possibly push him away.

Little did she know that Mike had a similar struggle inside of his own mind, but his reasons were far more different—particularly since they revolved around how he felt about himself. The events of the last two years still weighed way too heavily on his heart, and he was afraid that, if Violet ever saw who—much less what—he'd become during that time, it would push her away. And he didn't want to take that chance.

Eventually, they were each able to push their worries aside when they finally arrived at Violet's place, however Mike was surprised to see where they had ended up:

"One of the old apartment complexes...?" he questioned with raised eyebrows, looking up at the worn-out, brick building before them, "What happened to your dad's deli?"

He looked to her for an answer, but she couldn't bring herself to meet Mike's eyes. When she looked up at him to find that hadn't let up with his inquiring stare, she let out a sigh before looking to the building as well while explaining: "There was a vermin infestation... and it ran him out of business..."

A shock went through Mike. Violet's father, Bulbous Alyssum, didn't seem like the kind of guy who would let his business be overrun by mice and rats. His shop had always been more popular than the Subway down the street from their shop. And though he was the kindest man there was, he had the toughness needed to fight through anything no matter what the situation.

"I can only imagine how hard that must've hit him..." Mike figured as he observed the old apartment.

Violet could only nod as she started, "Believe me, you don't wanna know—"

She was interrupted by the sound of her own cell phone ringing, taking her by surprise. She took her phone from her pocket to see who was calling, and Mike could tell from the look on her face that it wasn't someone she was very fond of hearing from. She shot him an apologetic look, to which he nodded his understanding as she now turned away and answered in a low voice:

"Hey Dad, listen; I'm—

"... yes, I know I'm a little late, but—

"... Dad, I—!"

Mike was surprised to hear that this was Bulbous Alyssum on the phone with Violet. He couldn't make out his words, but it was definitely his voice that he was overhearing—only with a tone that was beyond infuriated.

That particularly threw Mike off. He had never known Bulbous to have any kind of temper. Clearly more things had changed than he had expected over the last two years.

"... I'm standing right outside—!

"... I'm sorry, alright?!"

It pained Mike to listen to the voice of the girl he loved become distressed. It was bad enough that Bulbous seemed shorter-tempered than before, but now he could distinguish a trait in Bulbous's dialect that he hadn't noticed before: slurred speech.

Mike specifically remembered that, back in the day, Bulbous loathed and detested alcohol more than probably anything. The idea of him drunkenly shouting at Violet from the other end of the phone was an image in his mind that he couldn't find it in himself to fathom.

"... Dad, I'll be inside in a minute—!"

Whatever Bulbous had interrupted her with next left Violet wide-eyed as she froze, petrified and tense. Mike could barely make out from Bulbous's screaming voice what he had said, but from the look on Violet's face he could tell that he'd heard him right.

"Dad..." Violet was now choking up, "That's completely unfair...!"

Mike heard Bulbous shout something short, before a click sounded from the receiver as Violet took her phone from her ear, now turning to Mike with tears welling in her eyes.

Mike shook his head, signaling for her not to say a word as he approached her. But he barely needed to take a step before she threw herself into his arms as she completely lost it, bawling into his chest.

Mike held her close and let her get it all out. He guided her to the steps that led inside and out of her apartment building so she could sit as she cried into his shoulder. She didn't seem to mind just dropping her school bag and binders to the side, even though they exposed the scribbles of his name that she'd written on them. But Mike kept his attention away from them and only on her, hoping that she was beginning to understand how he really felt for her.

A few minutes passed before Violet finally managed to pull herself together, and lifted her head from Mike's shoulder as he pulled from his duster a handkerchief and handed it to her. She took it gratefully as she wiped away her tears.

"Thanks..." was all she managed to say to him as she handed back the cloth, now scrambling to pick up her folders and her bag, realizing that her scribbles could be seen.

"Don't mention it," Mike replied simply as he replaced the cloth in his pocket, and Violet stood to face him. He didn't know if it was intentional, but the look in Violet's stormy-grey eyes was nothing but pure affection for him as she stared into his ocean-blue eyes.

"I guess I'll see you around," she said, though her expression seemed to suggest otherwise, for some reason.

Mike didn't question it, but instead just began to reply, "Yeah, I guess—"

He was cut off when Violet made the move that completely took him by surprise: she leaned towards his face and kissed him on the cheek, before darting like a bullet up the stairs that led inside the apartment, and disappeared within its lobby.

Mike stood there, paralyzed in surprise as he took in what had just happened. The girl he loved—that he also knew for sure loved him—had just kissed him on the cheek. He almost couldn't believe it; he even raised his hand to the spot he'd felt her lips meet his face as if to try and tell if it had happened or not, but his memory didn't lie.

But he didn't have time to linger on it as he checked his watch: a little over an hour had passed, meaning he had little under an hour to get back to Dexterity High and meet with Dr. Crawford for whatever it was he wanted to talk about so urgently.

Mike's coat flailed behind him as he spun and started walking back the other way, not wanting to let his former therapist and principal down.

It was a little past 8 PM when Mike finally made it back to Dexterity High in the center of the city. He hoped Dr. Crawford would be able to forgive him for his tardiness; the situation with Violet earlier had not been part of his time schedule.

Inside the school, he knew the elevator was locked down during the nightly hours, meaning he had to climb the four floors' worth of stairs to the top floor. He found it funny to think that, two years beforehand, he would have been out of breath by the time he reached the fourth floor from the first, but this time around he didn't even break a sweat.

He made his way down the hallway towards Dr. Crawford's office, where he could see a faint light coming from the crack in the slightly open door. Just before he knocked to ask for entry, he was surprised to hear a man's voice other than Dr. Crawford's from inside:

"You know I don't like being kept waiting, Skeldon."

"I know, yes..." came Dr. Crawford's voice in response, though his tone seemed fearful of the other man in the room with him, "I told him when he needed to come—"

"No excuses," the other voice interrupted irritably, "You told me this young man had plenty of potential."

"I assure you, that's the truth—"

Mike decided to break up the squabble by knocking, cutting Dr. Crawford off as a steady silence took over for a moment.

It only lasted for a moment or two before it was broken by Dr. Crawford, who had taken what sounded like a nervous gulp before saying, "Come in."

Mike entered into the office to find it just as it was the day before, with Dr. Crawford sitting in his chair behind his desk. The only difference was the presence of another man on the other side of the desk in one of the two guest chairs.

This man had short, neat brown hair that matched with his stern, hazel eyes. The entirety of his facial expression bore the same sternness, and Mike realized why Dr. Crawford had to have been sounding slightly frightened before.

The man's attire was that of a brown sport coat over a normal black shirt, and dark-tan pants donned his legs. His polished black shoes seemed shinier than they probably looked in the daylight, as the lights above their heads contrasted with the darkness of the night outside. He would've stood at 6'2" at full height.

"Ah, Mr. Harper..." Dr. Crawford breathed almost a sigh of relief, "I'm glad you could make it—"

"Nearly ten minutes late," the other man interjected, eyeing Mike with what looked like a mild annoyance, "Don't you know the expression 'early is on time,' boy?"

Mike stared calmly back into the eyes of the stern, seated man. Dr. Crawford looked like he was on the edge of his seat as he adjusted his glasses while speaking, "I assume you haven't met Mr. Copperson before, Mike?"

Mike's eyes widened as he looked to Dr. Crawford and then back to who he had now just been introduced to as he extended his arm to shake Mike's hand.

Andrew Copperson had been the mayor of County Dame since Mike had entered middle school. His term had never ended since he had always done such a pristine job at running the city, and the people had always chosen him over any other candidate who tried to run for the position. And the fact that Dr. Crawford was able to address him as just "Mister" Copperson could only have meant that the two had to be close in some regard, so Mike figured it would be wise to put his best foot forward.

"I sincerely apologize for my lateness," Mike spoke with earnest as he took Mr. Copperson's hand with a firm grasp, "I'm afraid there were complications that I ran into on my way here that couldn't be avoided."

As their hands parted, Mr. Copperson eyed Mike carefully as the latter took a seat in the chair opposite the Mayor. "You couldn't choose more appropriate attire for a meeting like this?" Mr. Copperson spoke, as if trying to taunt Mike.

"Well, I've only been back in the city for two days, now," Mike spoke honestly as he got himself comfortable, "I really haven't gotten a chance to expand my wardrobe beyond this."

He closed that last statement as he looked down upon his black duster, and Mr. Copperson almost looked like he was amused by this response. "Fair enough..." he said, "By your lack of preparation for this meeting, I'm going to assume you don't know why Skeldon summoned you here."

He shot Dr. Crawford a steely look, clearly expressing his disappointment in his colleague for not informing Mike. Dexterity High's principal seemed to shrink in his seat as he rested his head on his intertwined fingers.

Now Mr. Copperson looked back to Mike as he explained, "I was told that you had requested to have private courses away from your peers to complete your high school education. That's quite the ambitious request."

"So much so that it's unrealistic?" Mike inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Not necessarily," County Dame's Mayor assured, "But you see, a request like that still needs to be agreed upon by the city as well, and that's where I come in."

Mike remained silent as his gaze now locked onto Mr. Copperson's, who continued: "You see, we can't just give such a customized education to a young man who'd disappeared for so long a time with no adequately explained reason. So I just have a few questions I'd like to ask you about your activities over the last two years. It's a board member thing, you understand."

Mike's eyes narrowed. "Fine by me," he spoke, though his mind did not agree with that statement in the slightest, "I have nothing to hide."

"The first question, then..." Mr. Copperson began as he now crossed his legs comfortably, "Where were you?"

There was a silence in the room for only a moment filled with intensity. Dr. Crawford could tell by the look in his old patient's eyes that this was definitely something he would rather not talk about, but was surprised when Mike finally answered:

"Ever heard of a place called Frontier Haven?"

Both Dr. Crawford's and Mr. Copperson's eyes widened slightly at this response. "Frontier Haven..." Mr. Copperson repeated, scoffing slightly as he did so, "Yes, I've heard rumors about it. Supposedly, it's plagued with constant battles."

"That's the place," Mike confirmed.

It was Mr. Copperson's turn to narrow his eyes now. "Where in Frontier Haven did you stay?" he inquired.

"With a friend," Mike replied simply.

"What friend?"

"He's dead now, sir."

Dr. Crawford's face turned grim while Mr. Copperson leaned back in his chair, tensing up as he took in the information while looking into Mike's eyes. He could normally tell if someone was able to lie and look honest about it, but this time was different: Mike's eyes held no real emotion or truth, yet at the same time something in them convinced him that his words were true, as if they were incapable of telling any kind of lie because of some traumatic experience.

"Have you ever killed anyone?"

Mike hesitated as he averted his eyes at this question. Dr. Crawford and Mr. Copperson could immediately tell that this question had triggered some kind of nerve within Mike. Clearly whatever he had gone through while in Frontier Haven had left more of a mark on his than anyone else could have thought.

"Yes."

Dr. Crawford's eyes widened as he turned his head in alarm to Mr. Copperson, unable to believe that his old patient and student had just told him the truth. If he knew Mr. Copperson as well as anyone else did, then he knew that an answer like that would result in Mike getting locked up in County Dame's prison for who-knew-how-long.

But he was ultimately surprised when he heard Mr. Copperson's response escape through his lips: a small chuckle.

"Good answer," he replied with a grin, "That was a trick question to see if you were a liar. If the rumors about that place bear any truth, then I imagine that you likely ended up being involved in the battles waged there."

"There are no more battles, actually," Mike corrected the Mayor, causing the latter's eyebrows to rise.

"Is that so?" he inquired with interest, "And how is it that came to be?"

"Well, I could tell you, but then we'd have to sit here for another hour, and I'm sure you're a very busy man," Mike explained, though his voice gave both Mr. Copperson and Dr. Crawford the impression that Mike actually didn't want to elaborate any further on his time away. But there was still enough honesty in his voice to convince them that he meant what he said about needing to take a while to explain everything that had happened.

So instead, Mr. Copperson shifted in his seat as he said, "Well, let me assure you that I won't be reporting this to any of the authorities. If inquired about it, you best say that it was purely out of self-defense."

"I understand," Mike confirmed, "Thank you."

Mr. Copperson only nodded before glancing back at his clipboard again. "You said you wished to have a private education separated from your former classmates. We could easily accommodate you with nightly courses here for a GED, but first..."

He pulled out a pad of paper and a pen from the bag as he now looked back to Mike. "I want to hear what it is that you want to do upon completing these courses."

Mike stayed silent for a moment, deciding the best way to word what he was about to say. It was going to sound absurd to both Dr. Crawford and County Dame's mayor, but in Mike's mind it was something he absolutely had to do.

"Well..." he said, "I was actually thinking of trying to enter the Professional Dueling Circuit."

Just as Mike expected, Dr. Crawford and Mr. Copperson let that sink in for a minute before the mayor began laughing, as if he had just heard an okay joke. "The Pro Circuit..." he repeated after catching his breath, "Well, you've set a very high bar for yourself."

"Is it one that's impossible to reach from where I stand?" Mike inquired casually. He was beginning to sound like he was somewhat enjoying this conversation now.

He could tell Mr. Copperson could barely take his idea seriously by the way he now cleared his throat, obviously trying to decide in his mind how to respond. "I wouldn't say it's impossible..." he said, sounding like he was ready to choke on his own words, "But understand, it would be difficult for someone of your status to enter into such a prestigious business. Normally, you'd have to be an heir to a Dueling Legacy like the Cyber Style Clan in order to qualify as even remotely worthy to enter."

Mike's eyes narrowed at the mention of this style, which didn't escape the notice of Dr. Crawford or Mr. Copperson. "Any reason why you bring up that Legacy in particular?" Mike asked, a definite shift in his tone.

Mr. Copperson's eyebrows rose; he was clearly intrigued as to why Mike immediately reacted to that small detail. "As a matter of fact..." he replied, "The real heir to the Cyber Style Clan recently joined the ranks of the Pro Circuit here in County Dame; only a few months back, actually. He's currently on tour in Beijing right now."

"I see..." Mike muttered, processing what he had just heard.

Mr. Copperson cocked his head as a curious expression adorned his face. "What's your interest?" he questioned.

"Purely curiosity," Mike lied, though the way he spoke and acted through this part of their conversation clearly told Mr. Copperson that something seemed to bother Mike about the Cyber Style's heir. Dr. Crawford hoped that Mike's reluctance to say what was really bothering him wouldn't reflect badly on Mr. Copperson's decision to give him his education.

Luckily, it seemed Mr. Copperson didn't care, as he then jotted down a few notes before moving on to say, "Well, I believe I have all that I came here for, so I best be going."

Mr. Copperson rose from his chair as Mike did, picking up the small business bag at his side as he did so, and placing his papers within it as he spoke, "I'll be meeting with the board of education tomorrow, and contact you when we have deliberated."

He held out his hand to Mike—although reluctantly—and Mike took it and shook firmly. "Sounds good to me," was Mike's reply.

Now Mr. Copperson withdrew his hand as he looked to Dr. Crawford. "Good night, Skeldon," he addressed him more politely.

"Good night, Andrew," Dr. Crawford returned before County Dame's mayor shot one steelier look at Mike as he stepped out the door, and disappeared down the hallway.

There was a silence for a moment as Mike stood there and Dr. Crawford relaxed in his chair, the tension leaving his body.

Mike finally managed to break the silence as he sighed, before saying, "Well then... haven't felt that much tension since the last time someone tried to kill me."

Dr. Crawford could only give a small chuckle at that remark, which to Mike sounded like he was appreciative of having the mood lightened a bit.

But as Dr. Crawford calmed himself down again, his face became serious as he looked to Mike, who now said, "Thanks for calling me here. And again, sorry about the lateness."

Dr. Crawford shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he assured him, "By my examination, I think you have a good chance of getting your nightly classes, at least."

Mike nodded in understanding as his eyes wandered around the room for a moment. "I guess I'll be going, then," Mike figured as he began taking a step out the door.

"Just a moment, actually..." Dr. Crawford spoke, stopping Mike halfway out the door, "There's one thing I wanted to ask you about."

Mike turned to face his old therapist in the doorway as Dr. Crawford spoke, "Your interest in the heir to the Cyber Style... it wasn't just curiosity, was it?"

Mike averted eye contact with Dr. Crawford as he hesitated in his response. If Mike let himself say what he wanted to about what he knew about the heir to the Cyber Style, then it would give away just what kind of endeavors Mike had had to put up with for the last two years. And that was the last thing he wanted anyone knowing.

"We've... metbefore, is all." Mike chose his words carefully as he spoke, though from the tone of his voice Dr. Crawford could tell that Mike had more of a history with this duelist than he led on. But it was also evident that Mike wasn't keen on sharing just what kind of history that entailed.

Instead, Mr. Copperson only nodded to confirm his understanding. "Very well..." he spoke to Mike, "Good night, Mr. Harper."

"Good night, sir," Mike returned before stepping into the hallway, leaving Dr. Crawford and hopefully the memories that the previous conversation brought up in him behind.

\- FLASHBACK -

Mike fell flat on his back in the sand as his LP hit 0, while the shadow of Aeron's ace creature looming above him disappeared, letting the setting sunlight hit him again as Aeron's steel cable retracted itself from Mike's arm.

He was panting hard; he had never fought so hard or struggled so much in a duel in all of his life. His Lightsworn deck had always been decent, but Aeron's deck made it look like a grade-schooler's in comparison. He had never fought someone with this much skill and strength before, and the fact that this man had that much more power than him shook Mike to his core. Now he had no problem believing when Aeron had said he'd been undefeated for the last twenty years.

Aeron now walked his way over to Mike as the latter struggled to sit himself up again, but found himself pushed back down as Aeron stomped his foot down onto his chest, knocking the wind out of him as his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"That's what you call a duel?" he heard Aeron's emotionless voice talk down to him, "Pathetic."

Mike could barely muster the strength to lift his head and look up to his opponent. Normally, the pride he had in his duel would've been hurt from a derogatory insult like that, but what he saw when he looked up sent his mind into a fit of terrorizing panic: with his leg still firmly planted in Mike's chest, Aeron's right hand was aiming his revolver-shaped duel disk straight at Mike's face.

"I told you that this duel disk wasn't shaped just for its looks," Aeron reminded him, "You failed the test."

Mike's heart was now beating faster than a computer's ability to process data as he shut his eyes, his body shivering as fear completely overtook him, and he waited for his last few moments of life to reach their end.

But just as Aeron had begun to clench his finger on the trigger of his firearm, Mike heard what sounded like a firm hand grasping a shoulder as a familiar, commanding voice spoke: "That's enough, Aeron."

Mike opened his eyes to find, to his ultimate relief, that Samael was there, grabbing Aeron by the shoulder as the two men looked each other in the eye.

"There's no need to end this boy's life," Samael told Aeron, though from the tone of his voice, it sounded more like he was trying to give a fierce order of "Back down, or else."

A few more moments passed before Aeron finally went, "Hmph," followed by him stepping off of Mike, who took in a long gasp of air as he tried to refill his lungs with oxygen.

Now, as Aeron replaced his revolver in its holster at his side, Samael extended a hand to Mike with what the latter could only identify as a kind of reassuring smile. Gratefully, Mike grasped the hand and allowed himself to be pulled up to his feet again.

"I watched the last half of your duel from afar," Samael revealed as he looked from Mike to Aeron, "And while I was not surprised by the outcome, there was something about you that intrigued me."

Mike raised one eyebrow at this remark as Samael explained to Mike, "There's a potential in your dueling that's clearly evident, but your dueling felt like it lacking; as though you had no inspiration to even try and win."

Confusion scattered across Mike's brain as Aeron eyed Samael carefully, his own expression one of incertitude.

"Tell me," Samael now questioned Mike with an inquisitive stare, "Where you come from... is there something, or someone, that you particularly duel for? Not just for yourself?"

Mike immediately knew the answer to that question. "Well, yeah..." he answered honestly as he looked down to the sand beneath him, "I've always dueled for my friends... always trying to defend them against the jerks at school who're always out to hurt us and push us around. They've always given me that inspiration to fight my hardest and keep them safe..."

Samael nodded to confirm his understanding of what Mike was saying, before going silent for a moment as he processed these words.

"I see..." he finally spoke up after a time, "You've never fought for yourself, have you?"

Mike shook his head at this.

"Then that's why you lost..." Samael explained, "You can't be fighting like you used to for your friends. Out here, it's every man for himself—you either fight for yourself, or you die. And the way that you're dueling now is only going to get you killed."

Mike's eyes widened at this remark as Samael turned his back to him and Aeron. "You have the next two days left to train. I suggest that you find it in yourself to cut those ties to your old friends. They'll only get in your way from this point forward."

And with that, Samael now began walking back towards the town that was Frontier Haven not even a few yards away. Mike, meanwhile, was bewildered with what he'd just been told to do.

"Whattaya mean, just cut off the ties I have with my friends?!" he shot back at Samael, who now stopped in his tracks as he listened, "You think I'm just gonna push them out of my mind and forget?! That's what you expect me to do?!"

Samael remained silent, so Mike went on, "Well I'm not gonna do that, no matter how many times you tell me to—!"

"You're never going to see them again."

Samael's words felt like the bullet that almost went through Mike's head earlier as they cut off Mike, who was paralyzed by what he'd just heard as Samael explained, "You think that, even if you manage to win your upcoming duel, you'll be able to just go back to your home, and your friends?"

Mike had lost his voice in his shock, making him unable to answer. But even if he'd been able to, it suddenly dawned on him that he had no idea how he'd be able to make it back to his home anyway. He had no idea how far out into the desert he actually was, much less where Frontier Haven was located. There was no way for him to tell which direction he would've had to walk in to find his way home, and the idea of walking out into the desert again with either little or no provisions didn't sound like one he would be able to survive.

Samael took Mike's silence as him realizing what he'd been trying to convey. "You don't have a choice, I'm afraid..." Samael made it clear to him now, "And even if you did..."

Samael now held up his left arm as he rolled up his sleeve, revealing his X-shaped scar again. "You still bear this, just like the rest of us. And there's a reason why it's called the Mark of Death.

"You wouldn't want to bring that back to your friends..." Samael questioned Mike as he turned his head slightly to look back at him, "Would you?"

Mike was stunned silent as the realization tightened its grasp on him, forcing him to his knees. He had no more words that he could come back with—Samael had driven it home that there was no way Mike would be able to get out of this.

Samael, seeing that his work was done here, now turned away again. "You have the rest of today, and the next two days, to train the boy," he now addressed Aeron, who had remained unmoving and silent as he watched the two converse.

"Understood," was all Aeron replied with.

Without another word, Samael began walking his way back into Frontier Haven, while Aeron now turned to look at Mike, who was still on his knees in the sand nearby as tears glazed over his eyes. He'd lost concept of time and the world around him as Samael's words finally sank in to him like daggers—there really wasn't any way for him to get home after all.

"C'mon, get up."

Mike forced himself to look up and see, to his surprise, Aeron looming over him with a hand extended. His eyes were displaying what was the first hint of emotion that Mike had ever seen from him: sympathy.

Now, Mike gratefully took grasp of Aeron's hand as he let the latter pull him back to his feet. "Thank you..." Mike managed to stammer out to him, but Aeron merely shook his head, as if to let him know that "thanks" weren't necessary.

"You're lucky that Samael seems to expect a lot from you," Aeron explained to him before turning his back to him, moving back towards where he'd stood during their duel just minutes ago.

Mike watched as Aeron walked with an inquisitive stare. "Just what is he expecting from me, anyway...?" he implored.

"That, I can't say for certain," Aeron spoke as he continued walking, "But for some reason, he seems hell-bent on you being the one to bring down Keir."

Mike's felt his gut wrench at this comment as Aeron continued, "It's like he said—he saw a potential within you that's been held back by your inability to duel for anyone else but your friends."

Now Aeron turned to face Mike from where he stood during their last duel. "Now it's my job..." he explained as he pulled out his revolver-duel disk again, "To try and train you to be able to duel not just for your friends, but for yourself.

"Otherwise..." Aeron's voice now turned even graver than Mike had ever heard from him before, "You will lose that duel, and you will die."

Mike took this in as he realized that Aeron's words were all completely true. He sure as hell wasn't going to be able to go home to his friends anytime soon, and it seemed there was no getting out of this upcoming duel without trying to run off, which would more than likely guarantee his death in the end.

So to Mike, there was only one option: he reactivated the revolver-duel disk upon his arm that Aeron had given him, his deck being automatically shuffled by it as he finally shot back to Aeron: "Alright, then let's just get this over with already!"

Now Aeron cracked the smallest of smirks for the first time, seeing the renewed fire in Mike's eyes. "That's better," he muttered to himself as he and Mike both drew five cards once again.

"DUEL!" they both cried out again.

\- FLASHBACK END -

Mike couldn't find it in himself to sleep at all for the rest of the night after he'd returned to his hotel room, given his memories wouldn't stop floating around in his head like a bad nightmare that he couldn't wake from.

He was beginning to find it exceedingly frustrating that he couldn't push the memories out of his mind now that he was finally back in County Dame. The whole reason he'd chosen to finally come home after two years was so that he'd be able to put his past behind him, and to try and revert back to the person he'd been before he'd gone to Frontier Haven.

But as the hours passed on, it began to dawn on him that perhaps he'd been expecting results a little too quickly. It was only his second night back, after all; and memories like the ones that were haunting him would take time before they stopped popping into his mind so frequently.

Nevertheless, this didn't change the fact that he'd been unable to sleep for the entire night, so he tried going on his Facebook again to see if either Violet, Danny, or Marina were online to chat. But to his dismay, not one person was online that he could talk to. Then again, it made sense: he didn't know what else to expect when he was going online at 4 AM on a Saturday morning.

The only thing he did find was a message from Violet that had been sent many hours before, reading:

Violet: im sorry about holding u up last night. dads grounded me so i cant see u or anyone for the next few weeks. thanks for staying with me though :)

Though he was touched that he'd been able to help her, something else now entered into his mind that took his thoughts off of his past for once: the fact that Violet's father, Bulbous, had appeared to have turned into an abusive alcoholic.

It made sense to Mike about why he was like this now, after having heard from Violet about his deli's closing, but it was still hard to believe that Bulbous had sunk to such a low point. And what was even more out of character for him was the fact that he'd grounded Violet, as he'd never really punished her for anything before.

He hadn't realized how long he had been pondering over this conundrum until he finally checked the time on his phone, which read 5 AM. He almost couldn't believe how quickly the night had flown by, but he was glad that he'd been able to keep his mind busy throughout the night. He then lifted himself up off of his bed and made his way to the small motel lobby, returning the small envelope with the key and Wi-Fi password to the old man before entering into the city once more. He figured it would be best to re-familiarize himself with his former home, and he couldn't think of a better way to do so other than an early-morning stroll.

But to his surprise, he found that it wasn't hard to navigate the streetlight-lit roads at all: everything was still exactly where it had been before he'd left. All the retail outlets and fast food chains that he remembered were all still on the same streets as he remembered, with the exception of the few that had apparently gone out of business or moved to other locations.

As he walked, he found that the homesickness that had plagued him while he was in Frontier Haven was finally beginning to disappear. The few hours he spent navigating the city helped begin to fill the hole that had been left in his heart from the last two years, making him feel more like who he'd been before.

But the more he realized his homesickness was going away, the more that word reminded him of what it was that he was missing: a home.

He'd already gone through three homes in his life, and he was only eighteen. He had watched his first home burn down before his eyes; the second had been an orphanage run by an old nun who didn't really care for the kids that she housed; and the third that was Frontier Haven had put him through the two most traumatizing years of his life. And he knew he wouldn't be able to stay in the old motel; the cost for staying there alone had already burned a huge hole in his pocket.

As he contemplated about a place where he'd be able to stay, he hadn't realized that his aimless wandering around County Dame had brought him back to the apartment that he had walked Violet home to the night before. He was only a few blocks away from the building before suddenly stopping at the sound of the opening and closing of its doors. And from afar, who he saw exiting the building made his heart nearly stop from shock:

Out from the apartment walked a round, large, and bulky man with messy, unkempt brown hair and a beard of matching color and messiness. On him was a dark green t-shirt that was incapable of covering the entirety of his muffin-top belly, and his large jeans looked as if they had buttons that were about to snap off at any moment. He stood at an intimidating height of 6'4".

Despite his altered appearance, there wasn't a doubt in Mike's mind about who it was he was looking at. What he couldn't believe was how badly Bulbous had let himself go—he had always been big and stocky in figure, but nowhere close to this magnitude.

Now he watched as Bulbous walked off into the city as he wondered: what would a grown man like him have to do at 7:30 AM in the morning?

Mike came to only one conclusion as to how he was going to get that answer: it was time for a game of 'follow the leader,' and Bulbous would be playing the leader.

Mike made sure to stay a good distance away from Bulbous, so as to seem like he wasn't stalking the man to any of the other early risers walking or driving about, or to attract Bulbous's attention and make him aware of the fact he was being followed.

As he treaded after Bulbous, he also found himself becoming more and more familiarized with his old home than before. Now he was beginning to remember all of his old shortcuts and landmarks that he used to hang out at, and the images of places that had once been etched into his mind were starting to come back too.

But as for the end result of his little chase, he was so stunned by where Bulbous had entered into that he had to stop and stare at it as he read its name from the outside:

"Park 'n Shop...?" he uttered as Bulbous disappeared within the supermarket's automatic doors.

It took him a moment, but it quickly made sense: with Bulbous's new large size, it was clear that Bulbous liked going out to feed his indulgences early in the morning so no one else out of the major public saw him.

Then another thought occurred to Mike, brought about by the sudden rumble of his stomach: he himself had not really eaten anything in days, and he could have used some food as well. Now seemed like the perfect time to fill his stomach up with something so he could last a little longer. He just needed to be careful about how much he spent, as nearly all of the money he'd brought with him from Frontier Haven had gone to paying for that motel room. Now he had only a couple hundred dollars left in twenties, so he'd have to spend with caution.

Mike stepped his way into the store, and inside only picked out a few items: a couple of water bottles, a box of crackers, some fruit, and some milk cartons. That would at least tide him over for a couple of days, and it would only cost him around twenty dollars.

He was ready to proceed to the checkout lines before he saw Bulbous standing in one of the lines. Mike decided to hang back in one of the aisles just so he could observe the man from afar, and get a good look at his basket of goodies.

And just as he thought, the basket was filled up with nothing but junk: puddings, two-liter soda bottles, beef jerkies, cookies and candies of all kinds, etc. Maybe a few years ago, as a young teenager, Mike would've appreciated having all that junk food to munch on. But now, looking at Bulbous's size, he couldn't have been more sick to his stomach.

It was in that moment that someone else in the background suddenly caught his eye: a man who looked to be about in his mid-twenties that had just entered the store wearing a red hoodie, jeans, and a duel disk attached to his arm. His entire body seemed to be shaking somewhat, making his hands that were buried in his jacket seem like they were fidgeting with something.

Mike glued himself to the shelf in the aisle he was in. He wasn't getting a good vibe from this guy, and from all the experience he had with bad people, he was pretty good at being able to tell who was bad news and who wasn't.

And just as he predicted, not a moment too soon did the hooded man walk through one of the cashier's lanes before suddenly grabbing the female cashier who had been tending to Bulbous's goodies in a chokehold with one arm, while pulling a gun out of his pocket with the other and aiming it at her head.

"EVERYONE GET ON THE GROUND!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as the loud sound of his gun cocking echoed through the store.

Without a moment's hesitation, nearly everyone in the store either shrieked, shouted, or both as they fell to the ground with their hands on their heads, as if bowing down to this man's power. And in this situation, he DID have all the power: he had a hostage and was armed with a firearm. No one would've run the risk of making any sudden movements.

That's why Mike's movements were slow and subtle as he crawled away along the aisle he was in, listening as the shaking gunman now used his hostage-taking hand to pull out a big cloth bag from his hoodie and throw it on the cashier's counter.

"Fill it up, quick!" the robber rushed, his breathing fast and almost panting. It seemed like he was having a nervous breakdown.

The cashier, in her fright, immediately had the cash register open and was pouring every last dollar and coin from it that she could into her captor's bag as the armed man now shouted to the rest of the store's occupants, "IF I HEAR SO MUCH AS AN ALARM GO OFF, OR SEE ANYBODY MOVE, I'M GONNA DECORATE THIS CONVEYOR BELT WITH THIS WOMAN'S BRAINS!"

Bulbous, having been standing in front of that register earlier, had sunk to his knees and kept his hands on his head, but his steely-grey eyes didn't linger away from the crazed criminal before him.

Just as the register was emptied of its last coin, now the robber pointed the gun at Bulbous as his grip around the cashier tightened. "Now you, old coot!" the man demanded, "All your money, in the bag, now!"

Anyone who saw Bulbous's face would've thought that he was insane as an expression of anger took over his face as he now stood, towering over the cashier and robber before him.

"Over my dead body," was his gruff voice's response.

The gunman's trigger finger was starting to twitch now. One bad shake, and it would've kill Bulbous where he stood.

"I mean it, old man!" the gunman persisted as sweat drenched his face, "I mean it, I'll shoot!"

"Not likely."

No one had even noticed Mike stealthily sneaking around from behind the crook before he said that, followed by throwing his arm up into the criminal's gun arm, which shot into one of the ceiling lights, dimming the area mildly as more shrieks were heard.

Mike's maneuver managed to cause the shaking madman to drop his gun elsewhere, while also releasing his grip on the cashier as his attention now turned to hauling his fist at Mike, landing a blow into his abdomen that nearly knocked the wind out of him as he buckled. Seeing that his plan had been compromised, he grabbed his money bag and made a mad dash for the doors as the alarm began to blare.

Mike managed to stand himself up and regain control of his breathing just in time: he rushed out the door after the man, pulling out what looked like some kind of cuffs from one of his duster's pockets as he reached the parking lot.

What happened next was something no one else saw coming: Mike aimed and launched one of the cuffs towards the fleeing robber, revealing that a long, steel cable connected the two. The one that had been launched managed to lock itself onto the hooded man's duel disk arm, jolting him to a stop as it forced his gun and his bag of money out of his hands, landing in a lump not five feet away.

Mike stopped and stood his ground where he was, determined to not let the deranged criminal go as he now desperately tried to unhook the cuff from his arm.

Now Mike used his other free hand to draw his pistol-shaped duel disk from its holster, arming his left arm with it as he called out to the gunman: "If you want to escape so badly, I'll cut you a deal."

Mike had the madman's mad eyes locked onto his now as he attached the other cuff to his own duel disk arm. "If you can defeat me in a duel," Mike explained to him, "You're free to go and get your bag of dough over there."

He tried to choose his words carefully so as to not set off the lunatic he was facing. His shaking, his heavy breathing, his rushed speech; all of those things seemed like pretty obvious signs that Mike didn't want to push any of this man's buttons.

A crowd had now formed around the two duelists from people both in the parking lot and inside the store. No one could even begin to understand what Mike seemed to have in mind except for himself:

"As long as I keep this guy preoccupied until the cops arrive," Mike reasoned, "I can keep this nut-job from hurting anyone and keep him detained."

Now, as more and more people merged themselves into the crowd, whispers and mutterings could be heard among them as they watched Mike and the crazed robber face off:

"Is that Damian White...?"

"You mean the convict who escaped from Tallgate Prison?!"

"How did he get out of there?!"

"Who's the kid trying to catch him...?"

"Isn't he the one who disappeared two years ago...?"

Mike ignored the sideline commentary as he locked eyes with the criminal named Damian, who glared back at him with a fury not unlike what Mike had seen before. The man's disturbed trembling appeared to have ceased, but now another kind of madness seemed to take control over him as he activated his duel disk.

"Alright!" he finally accepted Mike's challenge, "I doubt you'd be able to defeat me, anyway!"

"I wouldn't get so cocky," Mike countered as he activated his own duel disk, "I don't care who you think you are. I won't accept defeat!"

And with that, they both drew five cards as they finally cried out, "DUEL!"

Next Time

Arc 1 | Chapter 5: "Instinct"

A/N: PLEASE READ

So a little thing I thought I should say about the duels in flashback sequences... yeah, I'm not gonna be writing those out in full. I'll include small snippets of duels where they really count at times, and maybe show how the duels end, but that's about it. If I were to write those duels in full, you'd be sitting here for a LONG-ASS TIME reading all of that, and I'm sure you guys have real lives to attend to (as I do, so... yeah xD).


End file.
